The future of the Nissan automotive plants in Barcelona has been cleared after the reindustrialization board, tasked with ensuring the continuity of industrial activity and maintaining the workforce, chose the projects presented by the Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM) and the Catalan electric motorcycle company Silence.
From now until the end of the year, when the definitive closure of the brand's manufacturing facilities in Catalonia is planned, the Japanese company, workers' representatives, and the Catalan and Spanish administrations will sit down to see how to implement the reindustrialization plans presented by GWM and Silence, especially with regard to business objectives and job guarantees.
After analyzing a total of 17 projects that the administrations received to find an alternative to Nissan's departure, the reindustrialization board chose those of four companies as most feasible: GWM, Silence, Punch, and QEV Technologies, regarding which it has made the final decision. And in its last meeting, it considered that GWM and Silence offer more guarantees.
Nissan announced in June 2020 that it would stop production in Catalonia and abandon its facilities on December 31 of this year. The Japanese company's industrial complex includes three factories in Barcelona, located in the Zona Franca, Montcada i Reixac, and Sant Andreu de la Barca, which currently employ about 1,600 direct workers ---after the labor adjustment plan carried out in recent months---.
From this moment, all parties will concentrate their efforts on negotiations with the Chinese GWM, which has shown interest in the Zona Franca plant ---although it does not rule out the Montcada i Reixac option--- to manufacture SUVs under the Wey brand, but also utility vehicles, with a brand called Ora Cat, with the aim of producing about 150,000 units annually and absorbing the entire workforce.
The project of Silence, a company located in Molins de Rei (Barcelona), specializing in electric motorcycles that wants to expand its production and enter the electric car segment, will also be explored in depth. Silence sees the Montcada i Reixac facilities as more appropriate for its growth. Therefore, the reindustrialization board considers that both projects can be complementary and will begin conversations in parallel.
Within the reindustrialization table meeting, the proposal from Catalan QEV Technologies to lead the creation of an electromobility hub was also evaluated, a project that all parties believe needs to be analyzed more thoroughly and that can also be complementary. QEV Technologies plans an investment of 1 billion euros, an annual production of 100,000 vehicles, and the creation of more than 4,000 direct jobs before 2025.
Conversely, the proposal from the Belgian group Punch to manufacture 75,678 hydrogen internal combustion vehicles by 2030 at Nissan's plants in Barcelona has been discarded—for the moment, despite being the largest in scope.
The head of Industrial Operations at Nissan in Spain, Frank Torres, stated after the meeting that "Nissan is fully open to this negotiation with a single objective: to achieve the reindustrialization of Nissan's plants in Barcelona. We are convinced that we will be able to find beneficial solutions for all parties." Torres also indicated that "as we have done from the beginning, Nissan will continue to play an active role supporting the development of the selected projects. The company will work with the other members of the Reindustrialization Commission during negotiations with the best will to reach an agreement."
Company and unions will ensure that the future of industrial activity and jobs is guaranteedFrom the Nissan works council, it has been warned that "we must go fast" in the negotiations because there are only a few months left until Nissan's withdrawal. "From the works councils, we will not choose or define any project as a winner without first reaching a definitive agreement in line with the conditions we have always requested:job guarantee and working conditions", indicated the works council in a statement.
Likewise, the workers leave all options open. The unions consider that although it has been decided to start a preferential negotiation with GWM and Silence and the D-HUB of electromobility, as complementary projects, "it is not ruled out that if any of these projects does not adjust to the objectives, new negotiation avenues will be opened with the rest of the alternatives, such as the company Punch."
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