Stellantis JV May Yield to Chinese State Pressure to End Investments in Pro-Tariff EU Countries

Battery-electric vehicle partners Stellantis and China’s Leapmotor could be bowing to Chinese government instructions to stop investments in European Union countries that supported import tariffs by switching vehicle assembly plants to countries that voted against them.

The automakers' joint venture, Leapmotor International, is rumored to be scrapping plans to build a third BEV model at Stellantis’ plant in Poland, a country that supported the punitive tariffs against unfairly subsidized BEVs from China, while Germany and Slovakia voted against the move.

Reuters reports two sources claiming the upcoming B10 crossover model’s production will be switched to the Stellantis Opel brand’s facility in Eisenach, Germany, and the Peugeot/Citroën Trnava plant in Slovakia. The agency says both JV partners declined to comment.

The B10 model debuted on the Leapmotor International stand at the recent Paris auto show 2024 and will join the C10 and T03 currently being sold in Europe through Stellantis dealer networks.

This move would suggest production of the urban T03 model, assembled in kit form at Stellantis' Tychy plant in Poland, could also be under threat as the companies try to appease Chinese government officials.

However, Leapmotor International would have to absorb the extra cost of labor in Germany where wages are markedly higher than in Poland.