Geely Auto, China’s second-largest carmaker, has struck a deal with Ford Motor to use the US company’s redundant capacity in Spain to build electric vehicles (EVs) amid its stepped-up push to expand globally. Multi-energy cars would be assembled at an idle factory in Almussafes, near Valencia, after the two companies set up a venture, with deliveries expected to begin in 2028, according to a statement by Geely on Thursday. The Chinese group would hold a 34 per cent stake, while Ford would control 66 per cent, it added. Three Ford-branded multi-energy vehicles and two electric Geely-branded models would be assembled at the plant. “By optimising factory utilisation and sharing development costs, the partnership will bolster operational excellence and provide long-term stability and employment opportunities for Valencia’s world-class automotive workforce,” Geely said in the statement. The tie-up highlights a growing trend of Chinese carmakers deepening their European foray by tapping international marques’ excess production facilities. Chinese EV makers are powering ahead in Europe, and local production sites can eventually help them avoid tariffs there Gao Shen, independent analyst The plant in Spain, once Ford’s largest factory outside the US, had been running at less than a quarter of its annual capacity of 450,000 vehicles, according to Bloomberg. Geely said the site, where Ford’s Kuga crossover is built, would be transformed into advanced facilities capable of producing about 500,000 cars a year. “Chinese EV makers are powering ahead in Europe, and local production sites can eventually help them avoid tariffs there,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “Other Chinese companies will continue to do so to expand their presence in major western European markets.” State-owned Chery Automobile is expected to build cars with Spanish partner Ebro at a former Nissan assembly plant in Barcelona, with deliveries expected to begin at the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2027. In early May, Stellantis said it had deepened its strategic partnership with Chinese EV assembler Leapmotor, in which it owned a 21 per cent stake, aiming to add an EV production line at a Spanish factory previously ­earmarked for petrol-powered Opel units. The European Union began levying tariffs of 7.8 per cent to 35.3 per cent on Chinese-made pure electric cars in late 2024, following more than a year of anti-subsidy investigations. Other Chinese carmakers such as Shanghai-headquartered SAIC Motor, BAIC Motor and Xpeng are either making plans to establish new production facilities or working with their local partners to assemble vehicles in Europe. Shenzhen-based BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, also said in May it was in talks with ­Stellantis – which owns Peugeot, Fiat and eight other European marques – about using its idle assembly ­facilities in the region to bolster deliveries in ­countries like Italy. JPMorgan said in a report three months ago that the acceleration of EV use on western Europe’s roads was likely to fire up sales of Chinese-developed smart cars, which could ­command a 20 per cent share of the regional market – equivalent to 2.5 million units – in 2028. Chinese cars, comprising exports from China and locally built vehicles, accounted for 10 per cent of new car sales in western Europe last year. Geely’s exports hit a record 102,874 units in June, up 157.1 per cent year on year.