Autopista Motor opens a DEEPAL electric car dealership in Sagunto
Autopista Motor has launched new premises in Sagunto dedicated to DEEPAL, Changan's electrified vehicle brand, with test drives of three hybrid and electric models.
Electrified motoring has gained a new sales point in Sagunto: dealer Autopista Motor has added the Chinese brand DEEPAL, part of the Changan group, to its line-up, with new premises that officially opened on 21 September on the Valencia-Barcelona road, number 25.5. Local residents and customers got to walk through the space and get behind the wheel of several of the models on offer.
The day's focus was the DEEPAL S05 PHEV, a plug-in hybrid that accounted for most of the test drives offered to attendees. Those who tried it highlighted, according to the organisers, the sense of safety and comfort at the wheel. The line-up on display was rounded out by two fully electric variants: the S07 and a second, fully electric version of the S05 itself.
Beyond the static display and technical explanations from the sales team, the day included test drives open to the public and a visit from content creator Sergio Jurado, who documented both the space and the vehicles firsthand.
Few customers yet recognise the brand's origins: DEEPAL only became an independent brand in 2023, having operated since 2018 under the name Chongqing Changan New Energy Automobile Technology, focused solely on plug-in hybrid and electric propulsion. Its parent company, Changan, carries a much longer and more surprising history — founded in 1862 as a weapons factory and, a century and a half later, now one of China's "big four" carmakers (major manufacturers), with a range spanning combustion engines to the fully electric propulsion on show in Sagunto.
DEEPAL's arrival fits into a moment of change for the city's car industry, where the upcoming start-up of PowerCo's battery gigafactory (Volkswagen Group's electric-vehicle battery plant) and the rise of electric mobility are reshaping both local industry and commerce. Autopista Motor thus adds one more brand to its portfolio and gives drivers in Sagunto and the wider district a new place to explore electrified cars just as demand for them keeps growing.
DEEPAL's arrival is not an isolated event in the local car trade: Sagunto already has an established tradition in car logistics and sales, with firms such as Toyota Sagunto operating in the logistics field, and growing interest from Asian brands in strengthening their presence in a Valencian market where electric mobility keeps gaining ground year after year.
Camp de Morvedre's business sector, largely organised around associations such as ASECAM, has in recent years flagged the shift towards sustainable mobility as one of the priorities for the district's commercial fabric, running in parallel with the city's industrial transformation driven by projects such as PowerCo's battery gigafactory.
The growing number of dealerships specialising in electrified vehicles also reflects rising demand from drivers, who increasingly ask about plug-in hybrid and electric models when replacing their car, drawn both by fuel savings and by public incentives available for low-emission vehicle purchases.
Having content creators such as Sergio Jurado at events like this has become common practice among shops and dealerships across the district, which increasingly turn to social media to showcase new arrivals — a trend also adopted by Sagunto City Council itself in its campaigns to support local commerce.
The growing number of electrified vehicles in Sagunto also comes with a gradual expansion of public and private charging points across the city, infrastructure that is key to making the shift to electric mobility workable both for private drivers and for the commercial fleets operating in the industrial estate.
Beyond sales, a brand like DEEPAL arriving also means setting up specialised after-sales service, with staff specifically trained in maintaining hybrid and electric vehicles — a factor increasingly valued by anyone considering the switch to electrified mobility. The dealership has also said it will gradually expand its sales and technical staff as demand for the new brand grows, in line with other operators in the sector who are adapting their structures to the rising market share of electrified vehicles. Sagunto's motor trade is also watching closely how the relationship between traditional dealerships and new Asian brands develops, a balance that could reshape the district's car retail landscape in the coming years.
According to El Periódico de Aquí, with additional background from Wikipedia on Changan.