© Stellantis
The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, recently presented at a press conference a new joint venture between the automotive group and Leapmotor, which will be managed by Stellantis at 51%. Remember that already in October 2023, an investment of nearly 1.5 billion euros from Stellantis was announced for the acquisition of approximately 21% of the capital of Leapmotor.
The Chinese (electric) automobile offensive from September, via Stellantis
Concretely, based in Amsterdam, the management team led by its CEO Tianshu Xin, former manager at Stellantis in China, is now preparing the launch of the T03 and C10 models on the European markets. To this will be added the India and Asia-Pacific regions (excluding China), without forgetting the Middle East, Africa and South America, the launch being planned from fourth quarter 2024.
“The creation of Leapmotor International marks a major step in managing the global climate emergency, thanks to cutting-edge electric cars capable of competing with Chinese brands currently present in the main international markets“, said Carlos Tavares. Let us recall that the latter was very critical of the State when the social leasing system concerning electric cars was stopped.
© Stellantis
For the Chinese group, the partnership will make it possible to develop vehicle sales on its native lands, but also to take advantage of Stellantis' international commercial presence to accelerate sales of the Leapmotor brand in other regions of the world (including Europe).
A (very) small city car and an SUV to start
By the end of the year, we should therefore be able to slip behind the wheel of a Leapmotor T03, a small urban electric city car with a range of 265 km. Added to this is the C10 model, a D-segment family SUV which offers “the best driving experience and handling in its segment“, with a range of 420 km. For the first, we are talking about a price which could be less than €20,000.
© Stellantis
Leapmotor International's electric vehicle offering is expected to complement Stellantis' current technologies and portfolio of iconic brands, including the highly popular Peugeot e-208 and others Fiat 500e. The joint venture has already announced that a new model will be launched each year for the next three years.
📍 To not miss any news from Presse-citron, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.
[ ]