The Chinese car manufacturer Chery has reappeared in Catalonia with an interest in occupying the land vacated by Nissan in the Zona Franca. The company that 13 years ago already tried to establish itself -unsuccessfully- in the community has put itself on the table today at the meeting of the reindustrialization table.
The company has shown its “initial” interest in the land, reports TV3. Sources from the reindustrialization table have explained that it is not possible to meet this request since the process of assigning projects ends on the 31st.
The same sources said the Generalitat and the Government have promised to look for a location in Catalonia – different from Nissan – so that it can be installed if it so wishes. The unions have explained that Chery does not offer guarantees and, therefore, it is only kept as a replacement option if the contest goes wrong. Industry sources have explained that the Chinese manufacturer could take on around 1,500 workers.
The table, made up of the public administrations, Nissan and the unions, has agreed at the meeting held this Thursday to maintain the deadline of October 31 for proposals to be submitted. Another Chinese automobile group, in this case Great Wall Motors, also showed interest in retaining the Zona Franca at the beginning of Nissan’s reindustrialization process, but withdrew its proposal after visiting Barcelona several times.
In September 2010, the then president of the Generalitat, José Montilla, already had contacts with Chery to analyze the feasibility of the project to install a car plant in Catalonia, but the project never came to fruition.
QEV Technologies, the company that leads the decarbonization ‘hub’ that aspires to occupy Nissan’s facilities in the Free Zone, announced this Thursday that it will present its candidacy for the land competition tomorrow, in alliance with the Goodman logistics manager.
Sources from the company have assured EFE that the proposal will be brought to the table with the conviction of being able to close the details of the financing of the project in a short time.
Precisely the ‘hub’ project obtained a few days ago an allocation of 107.8 million euros from Perte funds.
