On August 24th, Stellantis NV, the second largest car manufacturer in Europe, is considering partnering with a Chinese electric vehicle company to enhance its influence in China, the world’s largest automotive market.
Insiders have revealed that Stellantis has discussed the possibility of collaborating with Chinese electric vehicle companies, including Leapmotor. They stated that Stellantis is taking a series of measures to catch up with its competitors, such as ‘investing in a local automotive company’ and establishing business partnerships that will contribute to its development in China.
Furthermore, sources also added that this decision is still in the ‘consideration’ stage and a final decision has not been made yet. As of the time of writing, Stellantis and Leapmotor have not responded to Reuters’ request for comments.
Stellantis Group CEO Carlos Tavares has stated in an interview that ‘some of our Western counterparts, Volkswagen and General Motors, are currently facing pressure in the Chinese market.’ This is because their traditional fuel vehicle business is shrinking, and their scale of electrification business is not large, resulting in relatively low profits.
He also stated that as Tesla’s profits gradually decline, it will enter an environment of strict pricing and strong cost competitiveness. In such an environment, ‘large-scale enterprises like ours may face operational issues.’
And in early August this year, it was learned from informed sources that after XPeng Motors, the Volkswagen-owned Jetta brand is in talks with Leapmotor for cooperation. Reports indicate that FAW has currently issued internal documents, and if the cooperation is reached, Jetta will focus on the economy electric vehicle market and relocate its marketing company to Hangzhou like FAW Audi.
The informant revealed, ‘Unlike the cooperation between Volkswagen and XPeng Motors, this time FAW-Volkswagen is likely to acquire a certain generation of platform technology from Leapmotor.’ Another insider from FAW-Volkswagen stated that the company did have contact with Leapmotor, but they were not aware of the specific details. Leapmotor declined to comment on this matter.