Ford and Geely Team Up in Valencia: What It Means for Italy's Used Car Market

A deal that reshapes a historic Spanish plant

On 23 July 2026, Ford and Geely officially confirmed a joint venture to build cars at Ford's plant in Valencia (Almussafes), Spain. It is one of Ford's oldest and most important European facilities, with more than half a century of industrial history, and it had been running well below capacity for years amid falling Ford sales across the continent.

Under the agreement, Ford keeps control of the new company with a 66% stake, while Geely takes the remaining 34% for roughly 221 million euros, valuing the plant at around 650 million euros overall. At full capacity, the factory could eventually build up to 500,000 vehicles a year, a huge jump from current output.

What will be built, and starting when

In the near term almost nothing changes: the line will keep building the current Ford Kuga, the C-segment SUV also sold in Italy. The real transformation lands in 2028, when three new products join the line-up: a version of the Bronco tailored to the European market (already informally nicknamed the baby Bronco), an all-new multi-energy Ford crossover (likely spanning petrol, hybrid and possibly electric variants on one platform), and two battery-electric SUVs badged Geely.

The timeline calls for regulatory approval to be completed by the end of 2026, the joint venture to become operational in the first half of 2027, and the new models to arrive during 2028. Ford of Europe president Jim Baumbick said the goal is to load the plant up to its maximum capacity, while Geely senior vice president Victor Yang confirmed the Chinese automaker will not bring in workers from China: the plant's current workforce transfers to the new company, which is expected to hire further as production ramps up. Spanish unions are watching cautiously, pressing for clear guarantees on jobs, wages and future bargaining rights.

Why an American giant is opening the door to a Chinese automaker

The move fits a broader pattern the Italian market has been watching closely: after the EU imposed tariffs on electric vehicles built in China, several Chinese brands started assembling directly in Europe, or in countries like Hungary and Turkey, to sidestep those duties. Geely, which already owns Volvo and Polestar and partners with Renault on engines through Horse Powertrain, is now going a step further by embedding itself directly into the European production of a legacy brand like Ford, echoing (with different terms) Stellantis' tie-up with Leapmotor. For Ford, the deal fills otherwise excess capacity without shutting the plant down, protecting jobs at a delicate moment for Europe's car industry.

What actually changes for current Ford owners and sellers

It is worth separating what changes from what stays the same. The brand, the sales and service network, and the warranty all remain Ford: the joint venture concerns ownership of the production plant, not the brand under which the cars are sold in Italy. Anyone who owns a Kuga today, or is considering buying one used, does not need to worry about a sudden halt in production, parts availability, or after-sales support: the line keeps running under the same brand until the next generation arrives.

The real impact on Italy's used car market

This is where it gets directly useful for VendiVoce buyers and sellers. From 2028, two Geely-badged electric SUVs built in Spain will reach the European market, Italy included, and they will sit outside the tariffs currently applied to EVs imported directly from China. That points to potentially more price-competitive electric cars, in a market where searches for an affordable electric car are already among the most common online. Anyone selling a used electric car today should factor in more downward price pressure once this new supply arrives, an effect already seen with other Chinese brands that began assembling in Europe in recent years.

There is a flip side for anyone eyeing the current Ford Kuga: knowing that today's generation will be replaced by 2028, it is reasonable to expect its residual value, new and used alike, to soften somewhat faster from here on. For buyers, that means more room to negotiate over the coming months; for anyone selling a current Kuga, it is worth not waiting too close to the arrival of its replacement.

The bigger picture worth watching

This is not an isolated deal. The same weeks have brought other signs of the same trend, from new Chinese electric models arriving in Europe by ship to marketing pushes from brands like Changan to build awareness in Italy. Italy's used car market will increasingly feature cars born from Chinese-Western industrial alliances, not just purely Chinese or purely European models. The practical takeaway for buyers and sellers stays the same regardless: check the service network, warranty coverage and genuine parts availability, especially for first-generation models coming out of still-young partnerships like this one between Ford and Geely.