Stellantis said Thursday it is buying a piece of Chinese EV maker Leapmotor for $1.85 billion to create a global partnership. As the UAW expanded its strike against Stellantis, CEO Carlos Tavares (C) said it is supporting the global expansion of the Chinese company. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA
Stellantis said Thursday it is spending $1.85 billion to buy about 20% of Chinese EV company Leapmotor in a new strategic global EV partnership. It creates Leapmotor International, a 51/49 Stellantis-led joint venture for markets outside China.
According to Stellantis, it’s an industry-first global EV partnership between a leading automaker and a Chinese “pure-play NEV OEM.” Advertisement
The partnership is designed to accelerate Leapmotor’s sales in China while leveraging Stellantis’ global operations to grow Leapmotor’s brands in Europe and other global markets.
“As consolidation unfolds among the capable electric vehicles start-ups in China, it becomes increasingly apparent that a handful of efficient and agile new generation EV players, like Leapmotor, will come to dominate the mainstream segments in China,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares in a statement. “We feel it’s the perfect time to take a leading role in supporting the global expansion plans of Leapmotor, one of the most impressive new EV players who has a similar tech-first, entrepreneurial mindset to ours.”
Leapmotor founder and CEO Zhu Jiangming called it a great milestone in his company’s history.
“We believe in win-win partnerships formed by strong players in the fast-evolving environment. Working with Stellantis, we will continue to be innovative and creative in technology and business synergies and will bring Leapmotor EV cars to the global market.” Advertisement
Stellantis said it is investing more than $52 billion over 10 years in electrification to transform its European vehicle market to 100% electric by 2030. Stellantis wants its U.S. electric vehicle sales to reach 50% by 2030.
Stellantis said Leapmotor’s cell-to-chassis technology and “its unique vertical integration model maximizes scalability, enabling Leapmotor to quickly respond to customer needs.”
Leapmotor is focused on the mid-to-high end EV market, the largest and fastest-growing segment in China.
The Chinese investment deal comes as about 6,800 Stellantis U.S. UAW workers expanded their strike to the company’s Sterlign Heights Michigan assembly plant.
According to the UAW, Stellantis has the highest revenue and profits among the Detroit Three automakers, but has “the worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay and conversion to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and more.”
While the UAW has reached a tentative deal at Ford, it is ramping up the strike pressure on Stellantis and GM.
The Ford deal, which still has to be approved by a vote of rank and file workers to be finalized, came Wednesday after the union expanded its strikes against Stellantis and GM.
