Chinese brands Omoda and Jaecoo's growth plan in Europe includes the Free Trade Zone.

The Chinese group Chery aims to continue growing in Europe with the commercial launch of new models focused on the European B and C segments. These models, with bodies between 4.1 and 4.5 meters long, are for its commercial brands currently operating in the Old Continent, especially Omoda—the group's best-positioned brand, which will receive priority attention—and Jaecoo.

Chery's president, Guibin Zhang, has already confirmed the imminent presentation of the Omoda 3 this year. It is one of the SUVs that the group will manufacture in China and will be assembled at the plant in the Zona Franca district of Barcelona. Now, however, the brand's president has opened the door to the launch of new, smaller cars. Zhang has announced that "the Chery group will introduce a range of small cars for all export-oriented brands," namely the Omoda, Jaecoo, and the new Lepas brand, which will currently only operate in the United Kingdom and plans to launch in other European markets in the future.

This announcement confirms rumors of the arrival of two urban SUVs around 4 meters long (or slightly less), the Omoda 1 and Omoda 2, planned for 2027 and 2028. Unlike the new generation of electric cars, the Chinese company plans to continue offering combustion engines, hybrid versions, and fully electric versions to meet demand in the segment. Furthermore, these future Omoda 1 and Omoda 2 models should be in a lower price range than their main European rivals.

As for Jaecoo, the Chery group's other brand in Europe, group officials have confirmed that they are working on the future Jaecoo 3, an urban vehicle that will complement the current Jaecoo offering, taking advantage of the platform, mechanics, and technologies used by Omoda models and presumably by future cars that Ebro may manufacture.

Manufactured in the Zona Franca?

Chery's top executive, Zhang Guibin, declined to explain which plants it plans to manufacture the future urban models of Omoda and Jaecco, and everything indicates that the final decision will depend on the impact assessment and results of the new models that the group plans to produce in the Zona Franca. Starting in November, the electric versions of the Omoda and Jaecco will begin to be produced in Barcelona. Omoda 5 and Jaecoo 5, and it has not yet been decided whether the production of the future Omoda 3 will also be started.

Currently, the plant in the Free Trade Zone already produces the Ebro S700 and S800, both in combustion versions and in plug-in hybrid versions, and for a few weeks now, theEbro S400, the brand's big bet on the European market. A few months ago, coinciding with the Barcelona Automobile Fair, Chery Group leaders reiterated their commitment to Barcelona. They announced at the time that they expected to increase their current workforce of 800 to more than 1,200 by 2027, and to increase production at the Zona Franca plant to 200,000 vehicles per year by 2030, when it could have more than 3,000 employees.

The Chery Group's roadmap also involves integrating more and more elements of vehicle production at the Zona Franca plant and relying on a network of local suppliers, with the commercial objective of avoiding the European Union's current trade tariffs on vehicles manufactured in China. If implemented, this process would be a major boost for the Catalan industrial sector, as it would stimulate the production of specialized local suppliers, who already work with Seat-Cupra and other automotive manufacturers established in Spain, such as Ford (Almussafes, Valencia) and Stellantis (Figueruelas, Zaragoza).