Stellantis will build Dongfeng\u2019s Voyah EVs in France through a new European joint venture.
\nThe deal follows Stellantis\u2019 Leapmotor tie-up, which already brings Chinese EV production to Spain.
\nChinese automakers are turning to European assembly to blunt tariffs and gain a local foothold.<\/p>\n
Stellantis, the automotive conglomerate that owns Jeep, Ram, and 12 other car brands, has just announced a joint venture agreement with China\u2019s Dongfeng to build Voyah EVs in one of its European factories. It already has a similar deal with Leapmotor<\/a>, under which the latter is assembling its vehicles at a Stellantis plant in Spain to bypass import tariffs these vehicles would have faced if they were manufactured in China.<\/p>\n Chinese EVs face an additional import duty of up to 35% in the EU, on top of the existing 10% import tariff. This hasn\u2019t stopped Chinese automakers from bringing their vehicles over and undercutting local competition, but building them locally is an even better deal for the automakers.<\/p>\n The new Dongfeng deal focuses on the Stellantis plant in Rennes, France. It can accommodate up to three production lines and, at its peak, produced 400,000 vehicles per year, but now it only produces the Citroen C5 Aircross, using only a third of its capacity. Dongfeng will also build Peugeot and Jeep vehicles in China as part of the same deal.<\/p>\n Stellantis already knows the playbook through its tie-up with Leapmotor (in which it holds a controlling share). The Chinese manufacturer initially began production of the T03 electric city car<\/a> in Poland, but production there was halted in March last year, and it now builds the B10 electric crossover at the Stellantis factory in Zaragoza, Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reuters<\/a> says Leapmotor is looking to expand its collaboration with Stellantis and identify which of Stellantis’ European factories have unused production capacity to build its own models. Leapmotor will also be providing the platform and key components for a new Opel electric crossover<\/a>, making it one of the first European-badged vehicles built on fully Chinese underpinnings.<\/p>\n Other Chinese automakers have also begun efforts to localize production in Europe. BYD is the most famous in this respect with the huge factory it\u2019s building in Hungary. Chery has partnered with Spain\u2019s Ebro to use the former Nissan plant in Barcelona, while Xpeng and GAC have turned to Austria\u2019s Magna Steyr to assemble cars in Europe.<\/p>\n