Chery has signed a joint venture deal with Spain’s Ebro EV Motors to produce vehicles at its first factory in Europe. The Chinese carmaker will begin assembling the Omoda 5 in semi-knock-down (SKD) form at the former Nissan plant in Barcelona which shut down in 2021.

Chery acts as the junior partner in the joint venture with its Spanish partner being the majority shareholder. The plant will produce both Chery and Ebro EV vehicles in the fourth quarter of the year.

The Anhui-based carmaker was launched in Spain two months ago under the Omoda brand with two models introduced – the Omoda 5 petrol crossover and the Omoda E5 battery electric vehicle (BEV).

Meanwhile, Ebro EV is a BEV subsidiary of the Ebro truck brand and currently is looking to launch its first model, an electric pick-up that appears to be based on the D23 Nissan Navara. Nissan was a key partner to Ebro until the Japanese carmaker closed its Spanish production facility.

Spain is Europe’s second-largest car producer after Germany and has been enticing carmakers to set up BEV and battery production in the country with substantial subsidies.

Spanish authorities did not disclose if they had offered public aid to Chery but Catalonia’s government announced it would finance training programmes for the 1,600 former Nissan workers to facilitate a quick transition.

Chery was reportedly interested in the plant since 2022 but another Chinese carmaker was eyeing the Barcelona factory before this. Spanish media reported that Great Wall Motors (GWM) was once eyeing the plant though they pulled out over disagreements in the proposal.

The Barcelona plant was eventually handed over partially to the Spanish electric motorcycle brand Silence. Ebro EV acquired full corporate control of the facility in March and played a key role in the talks with Chery.

An event to formalize the deal is scheduled to take place on Friday.