BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The partnership between Chinese automaker Chery and Spanish EV car manufacturer Ebro is a "win-win" relationship, business insiders have said.
The two companies entered into an alliance to produce vehicles in the former Nissan plant in the Zona Franca industrial area in Spain's northeastern city of Barcelona on April 19.
"I think it's a case of win-win relations from which both companies benefit and it is helpful for creating jobs in Barcelona," said Rafael Ruiz, president of EV Motors, which owns Ebro.
"From the beginning we saw in Chery an ally that would help us start up the production plant," which closed in 2021 when Nissan ceased production there, he told Xinhua in an interview.
Seven months later, the first units of two Ebro SUV models are about to roll off the assembly line, and it is expected that six cars will be produced per hour by the new year, Pedro Calef, CEO of Ebro, told Xinhua.
At the end of this month, assembly of Ebro's S700 and S800 SUV models with PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid) and combustion engines will also kick off.
The Ebro CEO said that the company plans to open initially 30 dealerships in Spain for selling the new models assembled in the plant.
"The process of transformation towards more sustainable vehicles in Spain is evolving very positively and with very good public acceptance," said Ruiz.
It is also good news for Nissan's former workers, some 750 of whom have already been contracted and will be incorporated into the factory alongside their new Chinese colleagues.
"The day-to-day work is complicated, but with the help of all the workers and with help from our partner Chery, we have managed to reach our target," Calef said.
Applauding the collaboration between the employees of both companies, Ruiz said "the technical teams from Barcelona and from China are world-class and they understand each other very well." ■