MILAN, April 30 (Reuters) – Stellantis has a mutually rewarding partnership with China’s Leapmotor which can be a model for future cooperation with other Chinese automakers, CEO Antonio Filosa said on Thursday.
“We take this partnership as an example of what we can do with, for instance, (another) Chinese automaker,” Filosa said in a call with journalists, after the Franco-Italian company presented its first quarter results.
Stellantis teamed up with Leapmotor in 2023 when it acquired around a fifth of the Chinese company and formed a joint venture in charge of producing and selling Leapmotor cars outside of China.
Stellantis will this year start assembling Leapmotor’s B10 compact SUV in Spain, while Reuters reported earlier this month that the two groups were in advanced talks to develop an Opel-branded electric SUV using the Chinese company’s technology.
As Stellantis prepares to unveil its new business plan on May 21, speculation is increasing that the Franco-Italian group could strike more deals with Leapmotors and other Chinese manufacturers to help fill its unused capacity in Europe.
The CEO said Leapmotor was winning over customers from other automakers, rather than stealing them from other Stellantis brands.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan, Nick Carey in London and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; writing by Giulio Piovaccari)
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