Stellantis and Leapmotor Partnership
The company Leapmotor will start car production at one of Stellantis’ plants in Spain. This will allow the Chinese manufacturer to avoid high EU customs tariffs on electric vehicles, which reach 30.7%.
Investment and Strategy
In 2023, Stellantis invested 1.5 billion euros in Leapmotor, acquiring 20% of the company’s shares and 51% of its international division. This allowed Stellantis to engage in the sale and distribution of Leapmotor cars outside of China.
We recently announced an industrial partnership to provide Leapmotor with the opportunity to use capacity at one of our Spanish plants to produce their cars on their platform
According to Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, production will begin very soon. Although the exact location of the plant has not been confirmed, Zaragoza is reported to be a potential candidate due to the construction of a battery gigafactory there.
Models and Market Plans
Leapmotor plans to invest up to 200 million dollars in modernizing production capacities. The most likely model for production in Europe is the B10, an electric SUV positioned as a competitor to the Kia EV3, BYD Atto 3, and Honda Kona Electric.
The price for the B10 in Europe starts from 29,900 euros. Leapmotor has previously had experience with production in Europe: the T03 minicar was assembled at the Stellantis plant in Poland, but production was discontinued in April. Plans to produce the B10 in Poland were also canceled.
Leapmotor is actively expanding its presence in the European market, and the partnership with Stellantis plays a key role in this strategy. Local production will allow the company to be more competitive and offer more affordable electric cars to European consumers. This could also serve as an example for other Chinese manufacturers seeking to avoid customs barriers.