Stellantis, Leapmotor to Become Joint Venture in Europe EV Production
By Reuters | 08 May, 2026

Stellantis and China's Leapmotor will deepen their tie‑up beyond distribution into manufacturing under a new business plan as the Franco-Italian carmaker seeks to regain lost market share in North America and Europe.

Stellantis and China's Leapmotor plan to start joint car production in Europe, deepening their tie‑up beyond distribution into manufacturing in the region, the Franco‑Italian automaker said on Friday.

The announcement comes before Stellantis presents a new business plan on May 21, with CEO Antonio Filosa tasked with regaining lost market share in North America and Europe, and turning operations around.

The new deal with Leapmotor is aimed at boosting production in Europe, especially for electric vehicles, and will help fill production lines at Stellantis' underutilised factories, while giving Leapmotor a quick way to manufacture cars in the region.

"This plan ... is expected to support production and advance localization in Europe of world-class manufacturing of electric vehicles at affordable prices," Filosa said in a statement.

"Today's announcement reflects our intent to deepen our partnership and take one more step towards even greater collaborations in the future," he added.

In the case of electric cars, the plan announced on Friday will help Leapmotor avoid European Union tariffs on Chinese-made EVs.

The two groups are also considering allocating new Leapmotor models to Stellantis' Madrid plant, in Spain, from 2028 and potentially transferring the ownership of the site to the Stellantis-backed joint venture Leapmotor International (LPMI), Stellantis said.

SHARED PLANT FOR OPEL, LEAPMOTOR MODELS

Stellantis bought a 21% stake in Leapmotor in 2023 and formed a largely commercial joint venture where the Franco-Italian car group has the rights to sell Leapmotor electric vehicles outside China.

Stellantis has a 51% stake in the LPMI JV, while the Chinese EV maker holds a 49% stake.

Under the new manufacturing plan, the partners are adding production of Leapmotor's B10 SUV and of a new jointly developed electric C‑SUV under the Opel brand at Stellantis' Zaragoza plant in Spain.

Both plans were previously anticipated by Reuters.

In a separate statement, Opel said the new joint model, to be developed in less than two years, would be the "first product arising from the contemplated expanded partnership".

Stellantis and Leapmotor will also cooperate in purchasing auto parts through LPMI, to benefit from combined scale and established Chinese know-how in EV technology.

"The objective would be to boost price competitiveness by leveraging the Chinese New Energy Vehicle ecosystem, while using European supply chain capabilities to strengthen resilience and accelerate time-to-market for new models," Stellantis said in a statement.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Giulia Segreti, Susan Fenton, Elaine Hardcastle)