Stellantis Scraps Plans to Make Leapmotor B10 EV in Poland – Report

Stellantis has scrapped plans to make Leapmotor EVs in Poland, with both Germany & Slovakia becoming potential replacements.

Multinational auto conglomerate Stellantis and its Chinese partner Leapmotor have scrapped their plans to produce EVs at the firm’s Tychy plant in Europe. As reported by Reuters, the joint venture is instead considering using Stellantis’ existing plants, which are located in Germany and Slovakia, respectively.

This move is part of the joint venture’s response to the Chinese government, who reportedly told automakers in an exclusive meeting to halt any big investments in European countries that supported the crippling extra tariffs on Chinese-made EVs in the Old Continent. Poland is part of the 10 EU members who supported the EU’s decision to impose tariffs of up to 45% on imported Chinese-made EVs.

As for Germany and Slovakia, both nations are among the five EU members who opposed the tariffs, while the other 12 members abstained from the vote process in approving the strict tariffs, which took place late last month.

Stellantis' Eisenach plant in Germany currently produces Opel models such as the Grandland crossover.

Currently, Stellantis’ production facility in Eisenach, Germany, is responsible for producing Opel models, while the Trnava plant in Slovakia churns out both Peugeot and Citroen models. Should the joint venture decide to go with this alternative plan, then the Eisenach plant will be the main production hub for the upcoming Leapmotor B10 EV SUV, while the Trnava plant will be the alternative production site for said model.

The firm’s Tychy plant in Poland, on the other hand, has been tasked with producing the Leapmotor T03 EV hatch, with most of its major components shipped directly from China. As of now, it is not clear whether this alternative plan will also affect the current production efforts of the T03 in Poland, with neither Stellantis nor Leapmotor having made any official statements regarding this whole matter.

Unveiled at this year’s Paris Motor Show, the B10 is Leapmotor’s third global model, following both the C10 SUV and the aforementioned T03 hatch. Coming in both battery EV (BEV) and range-extender EV (REEV) forms, this compact SUV crossover is expected to be priced around €30,000 (RM140,000 approx.), should the joint venture manage to avoid the crippling extra tariffs set by the EU.