Chery and Nissan Strike Cross-Border OEM Cooperation, Marking First Reverse Manufacturing Partnership for Chinese Automaker at Nissan’s UK Plant

A landmark breakthrough in cross-border automotive industry cooperation has taken place recently. In June 2026, Chery Automobile officially signed a strategic OEM cooperation agreement with Nissan Motor. Under the deal, Nissan's Sunderland vehicle manufacturing plant in the United Kingdom will commence contract production of passenger vehicles for Chery starting from April 2027. This marks the first time a Chinese independent automotive brand has secured OEM production access to Nissan's core overseas manufacturing base, reshaping the long-standing landscape of cross-border manufacturing collaboration between Chinese and foreign automakers.

According to the terms of the agreement, the collaboration adopts a localized overseas manufacturing model. The production site, equipment, frontline workforce and operational systems will all leverage the existing resources of Nissan's Sunderland facility. Dedicated production capacity will be allocated on-site exclusively for manufacturing Chery-branded passenger vehicles. Supported by Nissan's sophisticated overseas manufacturing standards, rigorous quality control systems and mature local supply chain networks, Chery will achieve localized production in Europe without constructing new overseas factories. This arrangement effectively avoids high import tariffs and cross-border shipping costs, empowering the brand to further penetrate the mainstream European automotive market.

Public industry data shows that Nissan's Sunderland Plant serves as the Japanese automaker's core production hub for the European market. Equipped with mature vehicle manufacturing technologies, comprehensive supply chain support and a stable local workforce, the facility has long been responsible for the production and global delivery of multiple Nissan models, ranking among Europe's top-tier vehicle plants in terms of production capacity and quality management. The launch of this cooperation signifies the opening of the established foreign automaker's core overseas production capacity to a Chinese independent brand, breaking the traditional one-way manufacturing model where domestic Chinese manufacturers solely produce vehicles for international brands.

Industry analysts regard this reverse OEM partnership between Chery and Nissan as a milestone in the global expansion of China's automotive industry. For decades, cross-border automotive manufacturing has been dominated by Chinese factories undertaking production orders for foreign brands. The new partnership reverses this traditional dynamic, demonstrating the substantial improvement in the product competitiveness, brand recognition and industrial discourse power of Chinese independent automakers. For Chery, utilizing Nissan's mature local manufacturing system in Europe enables the brand to rapidly fill gaps in overseas production capacity, shorten product delivery cycles, enhance cost-performance advantages and market share in Europe, and accelerate the implementation of its global development strategy.

From a broader industrial perspective, this cross-brand cooperation pioneers an innovative collaboration model for Chinese and foreign automakers. Amid intensifying global automotive market competition and accelerated new energy transformation, competition among automakers has evolved from single-product rivalry to comprehensive competition centered on global production capacity, supply chain resilience and localized operational resources. By opening up its overseas plant capacity, Nissan reflects the strategic shift of traditional international automakers, which are adopting lightweight models including capacity sharing and OEM collaboration to revitalize idle production capacity, optimize global industrial layout and reduce independent operational costs.

As of press time, both parties have yet to disclose detailed information regarding specific OEM models, annual production volume and the term of cooperation. Industry insiders predict that further operational details will be released in subsequent announcements. The Chery models to be locally produced in Europe are expected to focus on family passenger vehicles, precisely catering to the demands of mainstream European consumers. This pioneering cooperation will provide a valuable reference for more Chinese automakers pursuing overseas expansion, driving the global automotive industry to shift from fierce competition to in-depth collaboration and mutually beneficial development.