Stellantis considers building electric cars for Leapmotor in Poland
As Reuters claims to have learnt from insiders, Stellantis is planning to build the T03 small electric car from Leapmotor at its factory in Tychy. The Fiat 600e, among others, has also been produced there since last year.
Reuters also reports that the so-called semi-knocked-down technology is to be used for the small electric car. This involves partially assembled kits being assembled into finished vehicles. The two car manufacturers themselves have not commented on the information for the time being.
The T03 is already being imported into some European markets such as France and sold at prices starting at around 20,000 euros. Leapmotor is also planning to sell the C10 SUV model in Europe, specifically in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
In February, there were rumours that Stellantis could produce electric cars for its new Chinese joint venture partner Leapmotor. At the time, however, the rumours centred on the Mirafiori plant in Italy. This report was also based on information from insiders. According to this, up to 150,000 units could be assembled annually in Italy from 2026 or 2027.
In October 2023, Stellantis invested 1.5 billion euros in Leapmotor and acquired a 20 per cent stake in the Chinese car manufacturer. The deal also included the establishment of a joint venture called Leapmotor International, in which Stellantis holds 51 per cent and Leapmotor 49 per cent. At the time, both parties announced that the joint venture would have “exclusive rights to export, sell and manufacture Leapmotor products outside Greater China”.
Stellantis’ plan is to utilise Leapmotor’s “highly innovative, cost-efficient EV ecosystem” in China, which, as leaked in advance, probably refers to the Chinese manufacturer’s Leap 3.0 platform. The latter was presented at the IAA in Munich in September. At the premiere, Leapmotor emphasised that it was open to cooperation, as the company not only wanted to build cars, but also to become “a provider of core technologies for electric vehicles”, as Zhu Jiangming, CEO of Leapmotor, put it at the time.
Leapmotor International is based in the Netherlands and is set to become another brand of the Stellantis Group for low-cost electric cars. The joint venture is aiming to sell 500,000 electric cars outside China by 2030. Within China, Leapmotor aims to sell one million electric cars per year in the long term.
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