BYD, Chery and Dongfeng bypass EU barriers by investing billions in our factories. All the details of Beijing’s plan.
In the beginning it was the Green deal, when theEuropean Union it opened the window through which China’s clean tech industry, i.e. solar panels and wind turbines, entered. An entry that today has led Europe to 90% dependence on Chinese industry in that sector.
With the ban on cars with internal combustion engines from 2035 (then needlessly watered down), Brussels has instead directly thrown open all the doors to the Chinese automotive industry. After all, given the framework of what is possible to do, car manufacturers are organizing themselves. Globalization allows capital to move around the globe according to convenience, to take advantage of the best market conditions. The embrace of Germany to China, which dates back a few decades, has gradually established an alliance between the German and Chinese automotive industries.
The strategic failure of the European Green Deal and China’s electricity dominance
A coalition which today has resulted in Chinese domination of the electric and hybrid car sector, with the Germans in a serious crisis in the Chinese market so much so as to threaten employment levels at home. The entire European automotive industry has been overwhelmed by Chinese production capacity, in terms of costs, productivity and even quality. Despite the duties and minimum prices that the EU has imposed on cars manufactured in China, the market shares that the Dragon brands are conquering in Europe are significant. Perhaps also due to tariffs, the Chinese are now starting to settle directly in Europe.
There are many examples. Byd has already invested around 4 billion euros in Szeged, Hungary, where the factory will go into production in 2026 with the small Dolphin Surf, and then reach full capacity with a capacity of 300,000 units per year. In parallel, Byd is negotiating with Stellantis and other European manufacturers to take over underutilized factories, with Italy explicitly targeted as an acquisition target.
Dongfeng’s shadow on Cassino and the advance into the Iberian peninsula
The name that circulates most insistently on the Italian front is Cassinowhere the factory Stellantis it produced just 19,000 cars in 2025, 28% fewer than the previous year. The purchase candidate would be the Chinese house Dongfengwhich could focus on an electric city car under 20,000 euros, a segment in which the Italian market is very sensitive. It is not yet clear whether Stellantis will sell or simply rent the facilities, and the timing is not yet known. However, a complete transition could take a couple of years. On the trade union front, the hypothesis has been welcomed, but sight unseen, given that the intentions of the possible new bosses may not be so favourable, nor has there yet been a discussion on productivity issues.
In Spain there is even more crowding. Chery is already operational in Barcelona in the former Nissan plant in the Free Zone, with 17,300 vehicles produced in 2025 and a target of 50,000 in 2026, aiming for 150,000 by 2029. Geely is in advanced negotiations to acquire the Body 3 department of the Ford factory in Almussafes, near Valencia, an area now inactive following the retirement of the Mondeo, Galaxy and S-Max, while Ford continues to produce its Kuga on other lines. The parties are also considering whether Geely can produce a model on behalf of Ford. Saicthe group that owns MG, has leaked that an announcement on expansions in Spain could arrive in the coming weeks. Rumors point to Ferrol, Galicia, as the site of a new plant with a capacity of up to 120,000 vehicles per year. It is no coincidence that the president of that region personally went to China to meet the group’s top management.
The knots of Asian productivity between automation and industrial constraints
The brand Changan is carrying out inspections in northern Spain, with Aragon among the options, evaluating both the construction of a new plant and the acquisition of existing facilities. Leapmotorin partnership with Stellantisis preparing to produce the B10 electric SUV in Zaragoza, where CATL e Stellantis they are building a 4.1 billion euro gigafactory for batteries, with production expected by the end of 2026. The choice of Spain by so many operators is not accidental. There are modern but underutilized plants there, that is, exactly the type of asset that the Chinese are looking for, with proven infrastructure, already formed industries and lower labor costs.
If it is true that the unions think that the arrival of Chinese capital is good news for employment levels, they could be in for a bitter awakening. Chinese manufacturing, in any sector, builds its competitive advantage on exaggerated cost efficiency, first and foremost, and on productivity based on robotics and AI. Anyone who doesn’t keep up with the Asian standard will be cut off.
As this newspaper has written since 2021, the Green Deal has never been an industrial revolution in favor of Europe, but an external industrial constraint designed in Berlin and packaged in Brussels. Behind the rhetoric of “doing our part” to save the planet (sic) was hiding the need to breathe new life into the dying German automotive sector by rewriting the rules of the entire European market by law. A gigantic deal, as perhaps never before in history. Except that the big deal took flight and landed from Berlin in Beijing. The “real industrial revolution” triumphantly announced seven years ago by Frans Timmermans is actually underway. It’s simply not ours.
