Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. and BAIC Group's Spanish partner are working to connect with European suppliers and plan to build a small battery assembly plant to meet the increasingly strict localization production requirements in Europe.

Eduardo Blanco, CEO of Spanish automaker Santana Motors, stated that the company aims to achieve 60% localization of automotive parts procurement within three to five years. He revealed that the company currently assembles cars in a semi assembled form, requiring a total of 21 imported parts.

Santana Motors emphasizes that Chinese manufacturers are increasingly relying on local partners to comply with European regulations aimed at protecting local production. Blanco stated in a phone interview in early November that all Chinese brands "conduct their business based on the assumption that tariffs will persist for the long term.

Santana, which was discontinued in 2011, has recently been revived by restarting its factory in Linares, Andalusia, using components provided by Chinese partners to assemble off-road vehicles.

The company's factory has started assembling models made by Zhengzhou Nissan, a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor, and selling them under the Santana brand.

Blanco stated that the second assembly line will use a "completely disassembled assembly" mode to produce models for BAIC Group in China, and will be put into production in about nine months. BAIC will provide the underlying platform and technology for three vehicle models.