Leapmotor and Stellantis will market electric vehicles in Europe through their joint venture starting in September, as we mentioned in BFM Business last month. On the program: a small city car and a large SUV, before the arrival of four other models until 2027, as reflected in the product plan presented by the two partners (see below).
The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, confirmed this Tuesday during a joint press conference in Hangzhou (east), the Chinese manufacturer’s hometown, that Leapmotor’s first electric cars will be marketed in September in Europe.
“Accelerate the commercialization of affordable electric vehicles”
This joint venture “allows us to accelerate the commercialization of smart and affordable electric vehicles,” said Carlos Tavares.
“We will be able to bring affordable electric vehicles to our markets more quickly, which will not only contribute to the profitable growth of Leapmotor, to the profitable growth of Stellantis (…), but will also contribute more quickly and effectively to solving the problem of global warming that we must solve,” added Carlos Tavares.
According to Leapmotor founder Zhu Jiangming, the joint venture could help the Chinese company cope with “political and regional uncertainty.”
“With the strengths of Stellantis, one plus one is surely more than two,” he added.
A small city car with 265 kilometers of autonomy
Leapmotor will initially market a small electric car, the T03 with 265 kilometers of autonomy, and a family SUV, the C10, with around 420 kilometers.
By the end of the year, the joint company plans to open 200 points of sale, “before expanding its activity to the regions of India and Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and South America starting in the fourth quarter,” specifies the press of Stellantis. release. “The joint venture launch plan will leverage Stellantis’ distribution networks,” it also says.
The prices of the two vehicles have not been communicated.
Source: BFM TV
