11:19 am, May 11, 2026
Stellantis and Leapmotor have revealed they plan to begin car manufacturing in Europe, including a new model jointly designed by the car makers, furthering it’s partnership.
Before this, Stellantis was purely an investor in the Chinese company and its deal included exclusive rights for distribution outside of China.
This new plan will see the business partners build Leapmotor’s B10 SUV along with a C-segment SUV that the two car companies have developed under the Opel brand at the Spanish Stellantis factory in Zaragoza.
Stellantis has been the largest investor in Leapmotor since 2023 when it took a 21% stake in the Chinese car maker. At the same time the two firms created the joint venture Leapmotor International, with Stellantis taking a 51% share, for the exclusive rights to sales and manufacturing outside of Greater China.
Antonio Filosa, Stellantis CEO, commented: ‘This plan to expand our successful partnership with Leapmotor – a trusted peer and one of the fastest-growing, most respected new energy vehicle producers globally – is a true win-win for both of us.
‘It is expected to support production and advance localisation in Europe of world-class manufacturing of electric vehicles at affordable prices to meet customers’ real-world needs.
‘Today’s announcement reflects our intent to deepen our partnership and take one more step towards even greater collaborations in the future.’
The statement released by Stellantis shows that they intend to continue to grow this partnership, using their increased buying power from the scale of the Leapmotor International business while also expanding their footprint in new regions.
Zhu Jiangming, Leapmotor founder and CEO said: ‘Leapmotor’s leading-edge technologies, combined with Stellantis’ global reach, deep regional roots and much-loved automotive brands, would make this a uniquely powerful partnership.
‘Our joint venture, Leapmotor International, has quickly shown its benefits for both partners and in less than three years, has seen us launch our brand on five continents and significantly grow our international reach and reputation.’
