Stellantis agrees new £1.3bn deal to sell Leapmotor vehicles in Europe

Car manufacturing group Stellantis has announced a new deal to sell Chinese electric vehicle firm Leapmotor’s vehicles in Europe.

The €1.5bn (£1.3bn) deal will see Stellantis – which owns car companies such as Citroen, Peugeot and Jeep – take a 20 per cent stake in Leapmotor and create a new Leapmotor International arm which will be under Stellantis majority control.

The formation of this new division will see models sold outside of Leapmotor’s native China in the second half of 2024. The partnership also seeks to boost Leapmotor’s sales in China while also expanding it to other countries, starting with Europe. The group has also stated that it looks to ‘further explore mutually beneficial synergies’, which could suggest that Leapmotor’s electrification expertise could be used in future Stellantis products.

Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO, said: “As consolidation unfolds among the capable electric vehicles start-ups in China, it becomes increasingly apparent that a handful of efficient and agile new generation EV players, like Leapmotor, will come to dominate the mainstream segments in China

“We feel it’s the perfect time to take a leading role in supporting the global expansion plans of Leapmotor, one of the most impressive new EV players who has a similar tech-first, entrepreneurial mindset to ours.”

Leapmotor focuses on new energy vehicles (NEVs) – or those which are primarily driven by electric – of which it delivered around 111,000 in 2022 alone. It looks to create a full range of vehicles in a variety of sizes, too, all based on one ‘technical architecture’ with three scalable platforms utilising both electric and petrol range-extender electric powertrains.

— Stellantis (@Stellantis) October 25, 2023

Zhu Jiangming, Leapmotor Founder and CEO, said: “Today it is a great milestone in Leapmotor’s history, and I am thrilled to witness this moment together with Mr. Tavares and his team

“Developed with our in-house, full-suite technology capabilities, Leapmotor brings to the market the best-in-class EV products in a most cost competitive way. We believe in win-win partnerships formed by strong players in the fast-evolving environment. Working with Stellantis, we will continue to be innovative and creative in technology and business synergies and will bring Leapmotor EV cars to the global market.