China's Chery to delay Barcelona production start to Q4 2025, Spanish partner says

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Chinese carmaker Chery will delay the start of vehicle production in Spain to the fourth quarter of 2025, an executive at its Spanish partner Ebro said on Thursday, about a year behind a previous schedule.

In September, Ebro already said Chery would delay production at its Barcelona plant, its first in Europe, until next year from late this year without giving a more precise time.

"The project has not been cancelled. There has just been a readjustment," Ebro's chief executive, Pedro Calef, said in an interview at the plant.

"We have reasons to believe we will have a solid relationship (with Chery) for years," he added. 

Chery could not immediately be contacted outside Chinese business hours. 

In September, Ebro had cited commercial reasons, including European Union tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), but Calef said the tariffs should not affect the joint venture because production is in Europe.

Spain abstained from the EU vote in October to impose higher tariffs on Chinese EVs.

The Chery-Ebro venture said in April it would aim to produce up to 150,000 vehicles a year by 2029 and make the Barcelona plant one of Chery's main export facilities as EV makers worldwide wage an aggressive price war to win market share. 

The plant was used by Japanese carmaker Nissan until 2021 and before that by Ebro.

Up to 1,250 former Nissan workers will be hired, Ebro's Chairman Rafael Ruiz told Reuters.

Separately, the rebranded Ebro, which ceased sales in 1987, will produce its first SUV - in plug-in hybrid and petrol engine versions - at the end of this year.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 vehicles will be produced next year with sales focused for now in Spain and Andorra, Calef said. The price will be competitive, he added, declining to elaborate. 

Another Ebro SUV will begin to be manufactured this year, while the delayed joint venture's production will allow a third Ebro model to be brought forward to mid from late-2025. 

The first vehicle produced by Chery in Barcelona will be its SUV Omoda 5.

Ebro projects sales of around 330 million euros ($347 million) in 2025 and 1.1 billion euros in 2027. It expects core earnings of 22 million euros next year when it would start posting a profit.

EV Motors, Ebro's holding company, was listed last month on Spain's stock market.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 2)

($1 = 0.9519 euros)

(Reporting by Joan Faus; editing by Charlie Devereux and Barbara Lewis)