Nissan’s plant in Spain is due to close definitively this year. But one person is interested in taking it over. From China…
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Chinese carmakers have experienced an unprecedented boom in recent years. Plans for their expansion into Europe are appearing more and more, and many Chinese brands are already selling on the European market, recently even one started selling in our country, Dongfeng. At the same time, Chinese brands have different ambitions and a different portfolio, but they are united by the fact that they import cars to Europe from China. But even that can change.
The Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor has expressed interest in the Nissan plant in Barcelona, Spain, according to local unions in the autumn. The Japanese carmaker plans to close the plant by the end of the year, as part of the restructuring of its production network. The factory focuses on the production of commercial vehicles, an area in which Nissan will work closely with Renault in the future. Specifically the existing e-NV200’s own design will replace the Townstar, derived from the new Renault Kangoo. It will be manufactured directly at the French carmaker.
The Great Wall did not officially disclose its intentions with the factory. However, she was reportedly only interested in the largest of Nissan’s three Barcelona plants, as the remaining two were to be bought by electric motorcycle manufacturer Silence and engineering company QEV.
Recent reports from Spain, however, report that the Great Wall will not buy the factory in the end. According to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, the carmaker withdrew from the project. Even after the local authorities sent the company an improved takeover proposal, when it first became clear that Great Wall was questioning its original intention.
At the moment, it is not clear whether the Chinese manufacturer is really no longer interested in the factory and what may have led him to such a decision. In any case, the situation in the European automotive industry remains very uncertain, there are still problems with the supply of production parts, and future sales are uncertain, due to the boom in electric cars and the associated increase in car prices. But there is also the possibility that reports on the termination of the project are only part of hard negotiations.
In any case, another meeting on the next future of the Nissan plant in Barcelona is due to take place this Friday. The aim is to discuss the conclusion of an agreement with potential other investors.
The Spanish authorities have been in the last few weeks to arrange for the future of the plant and thus work for the remaining employees. Nissan intends to close the Barcelona factory by the end of the year. This is also a change from the original plans, the Japanese carmaker originally wanted to close the factory last year. However, in agreement with the unions, it postponed the closure of the plant by a year.
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