SHANGHAI/MILAN, April 8 (Reuters) - Stellantis is in advanced talks with Leapmotor to jointly develop an Opel-branded electric SUV that would use the Chinese automaker's technology and be produced at Stellantis' Zaragoza plant in Spain, three sources told Reuters.
The deal, if finalised, would help Stellantis cut the cost and time to develop a new EV model, as the French-Italian automaker shifts focus to petrol-electric hybrid cars. Earlier this year it announced a $25 billion writedown related to scaling back its EV plans.
It is also seeking to fend off competition from BYD and other Chinese brands in Europe and improve the utilisation rate at its European plants. Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who took the top job in June last year, will present a new long-term business plan on May 21.
Stellantis formed a partnership with Leapmotor after acquiring around a fifth of the Chinese company in 2023. They also have a joint venture, Leapmotor International, that is in charge of the sales and production of Leapmotor cars outside China.
The new model would share a common architecture with the Chinese automaker's B10 compact SUV, which will also be assembled later this year for the European market at the Zaragoza plant, two of the sources said.
Production of the new Opel model is expected to start in 2028 with a targeted annual output of 50,000 vehicles, said the two people.
Under the terms being discussed, Leapmotor would supply key technologies and components including electronic and electrical parts, while Opel would design the exterior, one of the sources said, adding that a significant portion of the vehicle's development would take place in China.
Talks between Stellantis and Leapmotor over the Opel project, codenamed O3U, started in late 2025 and an agreement could be reached as early as this month, the person said.
Details of the advanced talks between Stellantis and Leapmotor over the Opel SUV development have not been previously reported.
In a statement, Stellantis said there was "regular engagement" between the two partners about ways to expand collaboration, but declined to comment further.
Advertisement
Leapmotor told Reuters it is in talks with partners, including Stellantis, but solely on supplying self-developed components with no plans for platform-level collaboration. The Chinese automaker did not respond to requests to comment on details of the Opel EV plans, including the production timeline and targeted output.
Last month, Leapmotor said it expected mass production of its vehicles from Spain from October, with some projects with Stellantis being in "advanced negotiation stages".
EARLY TALKS ON OTHER JOINT PROJECTS
A third person said Stellantis has been studying using Leapmotor's EV technologies for developing the next-generation Opel Mokka B SUV. Production of that model is expected to eventually be moved to Spain from France, this person said.
Opel vehicles made up around 21% of Stellantis' 2025 sales in Europe, the brand's primary market, with Germany as its single largest country.
Stellantis has also started preliminary talks with Leapmotor on the potential development of an Alfa Romeo model using the same architecture at the Zaragoza plant to optimise its capacity, one of the sources said.
Although Stellantis took a big hit on EVs, saying it overestimated the pace of the energy transition, EVs remain part of its strategy, especially in Europe.
The potential Opel EV is only the most advanced of several ongoing discussions between the two automakers. They have also held talks on additional models developed on Leapmotor's architecture for smaller A-segment cars, which would require a different production line from that used in Zaragoza, one of the people said.
($1 = 0.8685 euros)
(Reporting by Zhang Yan in Shanghai, Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; Editing by David Dolan and Sonali Paul)
