Global motoring powerhouse Stellantis will ship and sell vehicles from fast-growing Chinese car maker Leapmotor in Europe as part of a €1.5 billion (£1.3bn) investment deal.
Taking a 20% stake in the firm – which gives it two board of directors seats – the move also creates the Stellantis-majority-owned Leapmotor International, under which the models will be sold outside of China. Shipments are expected to begin in the second half of 2024.
Stellantis – which owns, among others, Citroën, Peugeot and Vauxhall – has told Autocar that "there are no plans about models at this stage" when asked to confirm which Leapmotor vehicles will be sold in Europe.
Currently, Leapmotor, which sold 111,000 cars in 2022, offers the Fiat 500-rivalling T03 city EV for the equivalent of £7437, the Tesla Model Y-rivalling C11 SUV (£19,437) and BMW i4-rivalling C01 (£22,167).
