Nissan ends production of electric van in the Free Trade Zone
The State and the Government are waiting for GWM's response to decide the future of the Japanese company's plants in Catalonia
BarcelonaThe Japanese car manufacturer Nissan will put an end to the production of vehicles in one of the two lines of the Zona Franca plant in Barcelona this Thursday, and it will close the other one on the 15th. Meanwhile, the workforce's future remains unclear, as negotiations for an industrial alternative that will occupy the Japanese company's facilities continue. Both the Spanish executive and the Generalitat are waiting for the Chinese Great Wall Motors (GWM) to answer the counterproposal they sent for the reindustrialization of the Nissan factory.
After more than 41 years linked to the Catalan capital, the Japanese multinational today stopped manufacturing the electric van eNV-200 and on the 15th it will end production of the pick-up truck. Nissan thus begins the last stage of its withdrawal from Barcelona, which it announced in May 2020, when it employed about 3,000 workers, although its departure also threatens thousands more in indirect jobs. Some 300 employees did their last day at the plant today, and will be on paid leave until the final closure on December 31. From the 15th, some 600 more workers will be on paid leave.
Nissan's workforce will most likely have to wait at home for plans for the reindustrialization of the land where the factories are located to be completed. The Spanish Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto, has expressed confidence that on December 17, when the reindustrialisation commission that has to decide the future of the plants meets, the Chinese manufacturer GWM will have given a positive response to the latest proposal made by the administrations to install its project there.
CThis Thursday, Catalan Business minister Roger Torrent explained that they expect to receive the response from the Chinese company at the end of this week "or early next week". "Although GMW told us that the talks were closed, we made a proposal, the best possible proposal, which is on the table of the directors of the Chinese company," Torrent said on Catalunya Ràdio.