LISBON/MADRID, July 22 (Reuters) – Ford Motor and China’s Geely have struck a landmark deal under which the U.S. automaker will sell part of its Almussafes plant near Valencia, paving the way for Geely to manufacture electric vehicles in Spain, ABC newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, ABC said the announcement is expected during a visit to the Almussafes plant on Thursday by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Ford Europe President Jim Baumbick.
Ford and Geely did not immediately respond to requests for comment emailed outside regular business hours.
ABC said the deal would give Geely, owner of brands including Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, a manufacturing base inside the European Union, helping it to avoid EU tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China while providing direct access to the European market.
For Ford, the deal would cut fixed costs through the shared use of factory infrastructure while helping to safeguard jobs and production at Almussafes, the future of which has been clouded by the phasing out of several models and its dependence on its Kuga model.
The newspaper said the agreement would allow Geely to produce its EX2 electric vehicle at Almussafes.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Victoria WalderseeEditing by David Goodman)
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