Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep, is considering building Chinese-branded electric vehicles (EVs) in North America. The company has a majority stake in a joint venture with Leapmotor, which would allow it to access relatively affordable EVs that could be assembled locally.
Antonio Filosa, Stellantis' CEO, recently stated that the company sees opportunities in expanding the manufacturing and sales of Leapmotor-branded cars to Mexico and potentially Canada. However, it's unlikely that Leapmotor-branded EVs will be sold in the United States anytime soon.
View Price on AmazonThe Leapmotor B10 is a compact electric crossover powered by a 67.1 kWh battery, which is equivalent to approximately 230 miles of range. In Europe, the vehicle starts at around $35,000.
Filosa mentioned that Stellantis is exploring the possibility of building Leapmotor cars in North America, but no decisions have been made yet. The company has experience building partially assembled cars or from knock-down kits, as it is currently doing in Europe with Leapmotor vehicles.
In North America, Leapmotor has a small presence in Mexico, but the cars were initially imported from China. If Stellantis decides to build the vehicles locally, it could give the company an upper hand in the region.
Stellantis also has a car factory in Brompton, Toronto, which has been idle since the end of 2023. Reopening the factory could provide an opportunity for the company to build Chinese-branded EVs in Canada.
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Source: insideevs.com
