There are more than 50 people in the big family photo. They didn't even fit on the stage at the headquarters of the Consorci de la Zona Franca (CZFB), where the Nissan reindustrialization agreement was signed yesterday.
An image that illustrates all the parties that had to be involved in order to carry out an alternative, that of the electromobility hub, almost three years after the announcement of the closure, in May 2020. Central government, Generalitat , CZFB, unions, consultants, legal teams, Nissan itself, Goodman... All together to finally give birth to an alternative that was born late, without clarifying all the doubts about the lost employment and with indispensable support public For this reason, despite celebrating the milestone, there were calls for caution, to keep a watchful eye so that the contracting and production commitments that have been sealed are fulfilled.
With the agreement, the Australian real estate and logistics operator Goodman will keep the 500,000 m2 of land under concession for 50 years and lease it to the hub and other players. "Today is a historic day. We have successfully completed the reindustrialization process, which will allow the continuity of thousands of jobs at risk", said Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry. The plan of the hub, captained by QEV and Btech, is to start in the first quarter of 2024 the production of electric vans with the Zeroid brand and the electric vans, based on Nissan patents, which will be sold under the Ebro brand. This will be next year, because the facilities need to be completely adapted. It will do so, initially, with around 600 employees, with the opening of recruitment just yesterday, as explained by Joan Orús, CEO of QEV.
When Nissan announced the closure it had 3,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs. After the ERO, early retirements and some alternative employment, currently a little more than 1,000 ex-workers remain unemployed and their benefit runs out in December. There is some urgency. Some will have to wait a little longer, because the forecast is to hire them all over the next year, said Orús. "Now it's time to do what all the parties have said. This is a first step, but it is far from over", said Miguel Ruiz, general secretary of Sigen-SIR Usoc. An employment table has been set up to follow the process. "It will continue until all the employees are reinstated", said Maroto.
"It's not, it's positive. No one is 100% satisfied, but no one is 100% dissatisfied", analyzed Pere Navarro, head of the CZFB. Along the way there have been 17 alternatives, such as that of the Chinese Great Wall Motors, the big bet at some point, or the Belgian Punch, another manufacturer. The quantities have been increasing, so the process progressed and the hub became a solution. In fact, getting the endorsements for the Perte funds that were allocated to the project was part of it. They started the big relief at Nissan among all the actors, it means about 100 million investment. The plan was allocated 65.23 million from the Perte of the electric car and Goodman had to borrow another 30 million to get to the starting point. In the first three years, the hub is expected to invest 300 million in total. In other words, public and Australian support have been fundamental.
Also taking advantage of some assets left by Nissan – such as chain-linking machines –, the hub wants to produce around 60,000 or 70,000 vehicles by 2026-2027. At that time 60% of the manufacturing would be in-house, with the rest for third parties. Orús assured that he is in contact with Asian and European brands
Motorcycle manufacturer Silence, which has been operating on the premises since the summer, is the other major project to inherit the land. Roger Torrent, Minister of Business and Work, celebrated the "successful" resolution of "a complex challenge". He sees the hub as a key to continuing as a benchmark for European automotive. "We will be attentive so that all the objectives are met; this does not end here", he pointed out. "It is necessary to make everything that is on the papers become reality, to make the planned vehicles. It's a qualitative leap", said Navarro in a similar tone.
Be that as it may, 28 meetings of the reindustrialization table - in which KPMG has advised - are already behind. It took until the end: on Sunday night, the legal details of what was signed yesterday were still being finalised.
