Credit：Visual China

Stellantis said on Thursday that it will spend 1.5 billion euros (US$1.58 billion) to acquire a stake of about 20% in Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Ltd. Leapmotor that day said it would issue 194.3 million Hong Kong shares to Stellantis for HK$43.8 apiece, a 19% premium to their close on Wednesday. Stellantis will hold around 21.07% of Leapmotor’s Hong Kong shares upon the transaction completes.

The two companies are also going to set up a joint venture, in which Stellantis will own a 51% stake and have the exclusive rights for the export, sale and production of Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China.

The announcements confirmed a report a day earlier. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Stellantis is nearing a deal to take over roughly 20% of Leapmotor’s shares to become the latter’s largest shareholder. The pair is also said to discuss establishment of a venture, which could allow Stellantis to produce and sell some Leapmotor cars outside China, and give Stellantis access to its Chinese partner’s parts and certain technologies.

Stellantis’ new deal with Leapmotor suggests Europe’s top two automakers by sales are strengthening ties with their Chinese EV competitors.  

Volkswagen, the top 1 European automaker by revenue, has officially reached new partnership with Chinese peers to ramp up expansion in EV sector in July following speculation about it subsidiary Audi’s expansion move. Audi was reported that month to consider acquisition of an EV platform from SAIC Motor-backed premium EV brand IM Motors. That reported acquisition could make Audi the first foreign auto brand to buy auto tech from Chinese rivals, making history for China’s auto industry that has been heavily relied on foreign-developed technology for decades.

Volkswagen announced in July Audi has inked a long-term framework agreement on technical collaboration with SAIC Motor, furthering cooperation with China’s largest carmaker. Volkswagen said the models, as a result of the new collaboration, would be under Audi brand, but didn’t specify which models Audi and SAIC would develop together or when the two companies could set up a joint venture to produce these models.

Volkswagen also sealed a framework agreement on strategic technical collaboration with Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng Inc in July. The two parties will jointly develop two B-class battery electric vehicles (BEV) models for sale in the Chinese market under Volkswagen brand, leveraging respective core competencies and Xpeng’s full-stack technologies, from EV platform G9 to Connectivity and advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) software. The models are expected to start production in 2026. The parties will explore additional potential strategic cooperation in a number of areas, including collaboration on future EV platforms, software technologies and supply chain.

Volkswagen and Xpeng also reached a share purchase agreement for strategic minority investment the same month. Under the investment agreement, Volkswagen will spend about US$700 million to acquire Class A ordinary shares at US$15 per American depositary share. When the deal completes, Volkswagen is set to take an about 4.99% stakes in Xpeng and become the third largest shareholder, next to Xpeng’s CEO and cofounder He Xiaopeng and Alibaba Group. Volkswagen has entitled to appoint an observer at Xpeng’s board upon completion of the investment.

Stellantis, Europe’s second largest automobile manufacturer by sales, is weighing options to team up with a Chinese EV maker, such investment in a local EV firm and a business partnership that can help the European giant grow in China, Bloomberg reported in August. Leapmotor was said to be a potential partner for Stellantis, and other international auto manufacturers including Volkswagen also expressed their interests in alliances with Leapmotor.

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