The Spanish Ebro and the Chinese Chery have formally signed the agreement to reindustrialize the old Nissan plant in Barcelona this Friday. The project contemplates manufacturing 150,000 vehicles in 2029 and employing 1,250 workers. Half of these have been unemployed for more than two years when the factory closed.
The plans are ambitious because in those facilities when the most cars have been produced there have been 195,000 per year and currently the signatories of the agreement will only occupy two thirds of the facilities, union sources have warned. For now, only 50,000 are expected to be assembled in 2027.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, were present at the protocol ceremony of the agreement. The two parties hope to start assembling the first Chery brand vehicle, the Omoda 5 electric, later this year.
The global investment is 400 million euros. This amount includes the public and private contribution. Nissan’s reindustrialization project consists of two parts. A first in which Ebro – owned by a group of Spanish investors – will build several electric vehicles. The second is the assembly of Chery vehicles at the facilities.
In his speech after the signing of the agreement, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, assured that the signing of the pact shows the “total commitment of the Government to Catalonia and Barcelona, ??in all areas and especially in the automotive sector.” The Chief Executive added that Nissan’s reindustrialization is “an exemplary model of public-private collaboration to promote a common objective and preserve quality employment.”
The president of the Generalitat Pere Aragonès has highlighted that the reindustrialization of Nissan is an example of companies choosing Catalonia to invest.
Among the anecdotes from the event, Sánchez mentioned in his speech the Muñoz brothers from the musical group Estopa as some of the personalities who showed solidarity with those fired at Nissan. “They know something about making cars,” he said ironically.
