Spain has become one of the main destinations for Chinese investment in Europe in the automotive sector, with the forecast of new multi-million-euro revenue sources that will boost ‘Made in Spain’ production in the coming years, turning the country into one of the main industrial hubs in the European market.
The latest development reinforcing this trend is the agreement reached between Ford and Geely regarding the Almussafes plant in Valencia. The two companies will establish a joint venture that will begin operations in 2027, in which the Asian manufacturer will hold a 34% stake in the joint venture after making an investment of 221 million euros, with the goal of manufacturing five models for the European market starting in 2028, two of which will be electric vehicles produced by the Asian company.
With the arrival of Geely, the Valencian plant not only ensures its industrial continuity, but also aims to recover productive capacity lost in recent years (it produced more than 420,000 cars in 2016), in addition to preserving employment and strengthening the supplier network of the Valencian Community.
For its part, the SAIC Motor group (owner of the MG brand) announced last June its arrival in Spain, specifically in the Galician town of Ferrol, where it will create its first vehicle factory in continental Europe through an investment of 200 million euros in its first implementation phase.
Thus, the works in the Galician town will begin at the beginning of next year in order to have the headquarters fully operational by the end of 2028, where there will be more than 2,300 employees and some 120,000 vehicles will be assembled per year.
LEAPMOTOR WILL PRODUCE CARS IN MADRID AND ZARAGOZA
On the other hand, Stellantis agreed last May to transfer the Villaverde plant (Madrid) to the Chinese firm Leapmotor, with which it has had a joint venture since 2024, as well as the allocation of two D-segment models to this same location by 2028, once the production of the Citroën C4, the ë-C4, and the C4 X and ë-C4 X variants—which are currently the models assembled at the Villaverde facility—concludes.
Similarly, Leapmotor will assemble a new Opel 100% electric SUV at the Figueruelas plant (Zaragoza) by the same date.
As explained by the Chinese ambassador to Spain, Yao Jing, in statements reported by Bloomberg, Leapmotor will allocate around 200 million euros to adapt the Stellantis factory in Figueruelas. Regarding Villaverde, the investment has not yet been officially detailed, although similar figures are projected.
SANTANA
Meanwhile, in Linares (Jaén), Santana Motors returned to the Spanish automotive market through a joint venture between Chinese manufacturers Anhui Coronet and Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile (ZNA). However, the firm from Jaén agreed to another alliance with the manufacturer BAIC Motors, in which the Spanish company will be the exclusive partner of the Asian firm and will market its range of vehicles under the Andalusian brand. The total estimated investment for the next three fiscal years amounts to more than 80 million euros.
RENAULT AND VOLKSWAGEN GROUP
Manufacturers with a deep-rooted history in the Spanish market, such as Renault and the Volkswagen Group, are also utilizing the potential of their plants in Spain to open up their vehicle portfolios to electrification.
On the French side, last May Renault announced that it had been awarded contracts for five electrified models to be produced in the coming years at its plants in Palencia and Valladolid, two of which would be all-electric 100% models and the rest hybrids.
The Volkswagen Group has also placed Spain at the center of its electrification strategy with the production of new urban battery-powered models. The Martorell plant (Barcelona) will manufacture the Cupra Raval and the Volkswagen ID. Polo, while the Landaben factory in Pamplona (Navarra) will assemble the Skoda Epiq, all of them developed on the MEB platform.
These investments are part of the German group's business project valued at around 7 billion euros, corresponding to its investments in Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat & Cupra, and the future PowerCo battery plant in Sagunto (Valencia).
BATTERY INDUSTRY, ANOTHER GOLD MINE
In addition to car manufacturing itself, Spain is also standing out for attracting Chinese investments to boost battery production.
Among them stands out the battery gigafactory that the Chinese group CATL will build alongside Stellantis in Zaragoza, Envision AESC's investments in Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres), the arrival of Chery at the former Nissan plant in the Barcelona Free Trade Zone alongside Ebro, and the industrial projects driven by companies such as Gotion, Hygreen, Dynanonic, or CNGR in various parts of the country.
Source: Europa Press
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