As a skilled racing driver, Carlos Tavares has mastered the art of tight turns. Of those who negotiate with their feet to the ground, without a single glance back. The vast agreement between Stellantis and the manufacturer Leapmotor is an illustration of this. Until now, it was to warn of the effects of an offensive by Chinese automobile groups in Europe and to demand measures to protect the industry of the Old Continent that the general director of the Franco-Italian-American group took the word. “A red carpet is rolled out in front of the Chinese manufacturers who will come with offers that are certainly attractive, but which are totally opposed to the dynamic of reindustrialization of Europe,” he warned again at the opening of the World Cup. car in Paris in 2022.
Leapmotor Deployment Support
By investing 1.5 billion euros in Leapmotor, with which Stellantis is also creating a joint venture – in which he will have a 51% stake – Carlos Tavares is now doing more than just announcing the arrival of the Chinese on the European market. It intends to actively support it, by making Stellantis’ commercial network in Europe and around the world available to its new partner, with the first deliveries planned for the second half of 2024.
A shift that the Portuguese boss defends without qualms: “We are going to observe a very strong offensive from Chinese manufacturers. We want to ensure that it is done to our benefit and not to our detriment. Some manufacturers will suffer from this, but not us”.
A position that Carlos Tavares assumes all the more since this alliance should allow Stellantis to regain a foothold in a Chinese market which has eluded it for years. Not to mention that Leapmotor offers it the possibility of accessing an architecture for electric cars considered promising, in which the batteries are directly integrated into the chassis. Too bad if we have to open the doors of Europe wide to him.