Chinese automakers are racing to find available space in factories on the continent to make their vehicles ahead of upcoming European Union legislation that will have a "Made in Europe" clause, mandating minimum local content in electric vehicles.
Spain is a popular choice among Chinese automakers because it is Europe's second-largest car-manufacturing country after Germany and has lower labour and energy costs. BYD has said the country is on its shortlist. China's Leapmotor will make an electric SUV at joint-venture partner Stellantis' factory in Zaragoza and premium brand Hongqi has been talking to Stellantis about building cars in one of its Spanish plants.
The Chinese need for production lines in a hurry is a boon for traditional automakers like Ford with plenty of unused factory space.
Just a decade ago, Ford was Europe's No. 4 automaker with sales of more than 1 million cars, according to industry data. Last year, the company sold just over 426,000 cars and had fallen to eighth place.
The company has been through several restructurings in Europe and currently only makes its Kuga SUV in Valencia, which has annual production capacity of around 500,000 vehicles. According to data from GlobalData, the factory was operating at just 26% capacity in 2025.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker will start producing its Bronco SUV in Valencia in 2028 and Ford's Baumbick said bringing in Geely would "leverage it (Valencia) for scale to compete at the right level of cost in Europe."
He added that there were no "hard constraints" on how much of the factory's capacity Geely can use.
"From Ford's perspective, this is pragmatic," said Bill Russo, CEO of Shanghai-based advisory firm Automobility. "It reduces fixed cost exposure, keeps the plant alive and effectively monetizes excess capacity."
In December, Ford said it would develop two small EVs with Renault using the French automaker's technology.
Ford and Geely will jointly develop a crossover SUV that will come with different powertrains — fully electric, plug-in hybrid and an extended-range EV — and start production in 2028.
Chinese automakers lead the world in developing flashy new EVs at great speed and are expanding aggressively outside their home market, the world's largest, where sales have fallen so far this year.
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