Stellantis owns 21% of the Chinese company Leapmotor, which makes electric cars. As part of a roundtable talk, CEO Carlos Tavares said that Stellantis factories could make Leapmotor vehicles for a certain market. This makes it seem like the EVs might be made in North American factories, but Tavares didn’t say for sure that this is what they were going to do. Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, said that the company is ready to make Leapmotor electric cars at its plants in North America and Europe if the market asks for it. When Tavares was at a roundtable with Invoice Pricing and many other reporters, he said, “At some point, as we all know, Western governments may be tempted to make things harder for exports from China to the rest of the world.” “If they do so, then we have the opportunity to use the manufacturing footprint of Stellantis [to build] Leapmotor cars [in those countries].” Automotive News Europe recently said that the company planned to build Leapmotor cars at Fiat‘s Mirafiori plant in Italy. However, Tavares should have said for sure when the Chinese brand’s cars would be made in Europe or North America. Instead, he just said that “any country that has a Stellantis plant” could make Leapmotor cars in their own country. Stellantis owns 21% of Leapmotor right now. Leapmotor makes the battery-electric C01 car, the C11 SUV, and the T03 small hatchback. According to Tavares, Leapmotor is not only a “15th brand” for Stellantis, but it also helps the company meet its own goals. “When we compare the cost competitiveness of Leapmotor with what [Stellantis is] doing with the small-car-platform-based products, we are very, very close,” Tavares told me. He thinks that Leapmotor products have “a 30% cost-competitive edge” over goods made in North America and Europe right now. Even though selling these cars in local markets would mean less money for Tavares, he had to pay attention to Leapmotor’s promise to make an EV that would make money. If Stellantis builds or sells Leapmotor cars in North America, we expect them to be added to its current line of cars under its brands. We can only guess because Tavares didn’t say anything detailed about it. But because Chrysler and Dodge are well-known names, it would be smarter for the company to keep these brands’ portfolios from shrinking. The Leapmotor C01 (pictured above) and C11 (pictured above) would make great Chryslers. There’s still a good chance that neither car will be sold in the US. Stellantis EVs are more likely to use the knowledge gained from comparing them to Leapmotor cars in the future. In any case, Tavares is ready to start making these cars at one of its plants in North America as soon as the right mix of legal requirements and profit margins are met.
