Romanian carmaker Dacia, owned by the French Renault group, confirmed that its first electric model would be produced in China.

Renault will produce the new model in a facility in Shiyan, Hubei. The factory is owned by eGT New Energy Automotive, a joint venture between Dongfeng, Renault, and Nissan. It's the same factory where the group produces the small Renault K-ZE SUV model, which has much in common with Spring.

"The Renault group did the engineering part on an alliance platform. Production is in China, which is the largest market for electric cars, has a fully developed ecosystem, and allows us to bring Spring to Europe as soon as possible," explained  Mihai Bordeanu, marketing director at Dacia, Hotnews.ro reported.

Shiyan is the first commercial vehicle production base in China. There are more than 500 car and parts manufacturers in the city, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles.

In recent decades, the automotive industry in Shiyan has shrunk, largely due to increasing production in larger cities with better transit links.

Ironically, Shiyan has been, since December 1999, a sister city of Craiova, Romania - where Ford owns the second automobile factory in Romania.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Renault)