Nissan resumes production in Barcelona's Zona Franca after four-month shutdown

Vehicle production at Nissan's Zona Franca plant resumed on Monday after a hiatus of almost four months following a strike by workers which began in early May.

Following an agreement between unions and management, the Japanese automaker has resumed one line of production, restarting the manufacture of the e-NV200 electric van, although with only one shift operating for now.

Production of the Nissan Navara, Renault Alaskan and Mercedes X-Class pickup trucks is scheduled to resume on September 7.

According to the vehicle manufacturer, the reason production has resumed at such low levels is due to a conflict between Nissan and Spanish infrastructure and energy company Acciona, as well as reduced demand for vehicles due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nissan sources have told ACN (the Catalan News Agency) that the number of vehicles being sold has fallen sharply in recent months and a temporarily halt on production could not be ruled out if demand were to fall any lower.

Factories to close before 2022 

At the beginning of August, and following weeks of protests from staff, Nissan reached a deal with its workers to postpone the closure of its car manufacturing plants in Catalonia until December 2021, one year later than originally planned.

While the closure of the company’s plants in and around Barcelona will leave 2,525 employees jobless, unions believe that the conditions of the final settlement are better than originally expected.

Nissan announced its plan to close the factories in May, after 40 years of operation in Catalonia.