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SAIC Motor, the Chinese state giant and owner of the MG brand, has chosen Spain to establish its first European electric vehicle factory, as reported by Bloomberg citing anonymous sources close to the operation.
The decision means that Spain has outmaneuvered Hungary, the other main candidate, in what represents a new advance for the Chinese automotive industry within the European market to bypass the tariffs imposed by Brussels.
The sources consulted by Bloomberg warned that the deal is not yet finalized: “The decision has not been completely settled yet. Important details still need to be established, such as the amount of the investment from Saic Motor, the production capacity of the plant, or the timelines.”
Galicia emerges as the favored region to host the installation, thanks to its established automotive industrial ecosystem centered around the Stellantis plant in Vigo.
In December 2025, a delegation from SAIC visited Galicia to meet with the regional government and the Port Authority of Vigo. This month, the president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, traveled to Shanghai to meet with the company's executives and visit its research and development center.
The SAIC strategy directly responds to the tariffs that the European Union will impose starting in October 2024 on electric vehicles manufactured in China, with rates ranging from 7.8% to 35.3%.
SAIC supports precisely the upper end of that range, making it especially urgent for the company to produce within the European bloc.
The diplomatic context has also played a decisive role: the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, visited China in mid-April and met with representatives from SAIC and nine other Chinese companies to present Spain as an investment destination.
SAIC, the seventh largest automobile manufacturer in the world by sales volume in 2025, acquired the British brand MG in 2007 following the bankruptcy of Rover, and also has joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen to produce their vehicles in China.
In parallel, Leapmotor —the Chinese brand integrated into the Stellantis Group— is making another significant move: last Wednesday, it opened orders in Europe for its new model B05, a sporty electric hatchback in the C segment, with prices starting at 26,900 euros.
The launch was announced on Thursday at the Beijing Auto Show under the slogan "A new response to the world," with the participation of over 100 international media outlets from five continents.
Leapmotor is already producing at the Stellantis plant in Figueruelas, Zaragoza, which allows it to avoid European tariffs and compete on price with local manufacturers.
The company delivered nearly 600,000 vehicles worldwide in 2025 and achieved its first profitable year; in the first quarter of 2026, its exports abroad surpassed 40,000 units, setting a historical record.
Both pieces of news come at a time when Chinese brands already account for over 11% of car sales in Spain, compared to the 6.64% recorded in 2024.
MG was the best-selling Chinese brand in Spain in 2025, with 45,163 vehicles registered, and its MG ZS model ranked third in the national sales ranking, ahead of the Seat Ibiza.
Spain thus consolidates itself as the main European destination for the Chinese automotive industry: CATL laid the first stone of its battery plant in Zaragoza in November 2025, with the capacity to create 4,000 jobs, and Chery is producing in the Free Trade Zone of Barcelona in partnership with Ebro-EV Motors, anticipating to reach 1,200 employees by 2027.
According to sector projections, Chinese brands could reach 25% of the Spanish car market by 2030.
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