(Bloomberg) -- Electric-vehicle maker Leapmotor expects to start assembling its urban electric car model in Poland by the end of the year as it looks to expand in Europe.
The Chinese company’s joint venture with multinational Stellantis NV, called Leapmotor International, started delivering electric vehicles to Europe this month in a bid to grow beyond the fierce competition found in its home market.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has been pushing for European sales of vehicles made by the joint venture in China before deciding whether to begin full-scale production at a group plant in Poland.
“We are in the preparation phase,” Leapmotor International Chief Executive Officer Tianshu Xin told reporters at an event outside Milan on Tuesday. “T03 model will start official production in the fourth quarter this year,” Xin said, referring to the electric urban vehicle.
The choice of country for the assembly and production work was based on “cost, quality and capacity,” Xin said. No targets were given for the site in Poland.
The first shipment of the Chinese carmaker’s C10 SUVs in Italy is undergoing final checks before heading to dealers, a company representative said last week. A production plant in Europe for the C10 hasn’t yet been decided, Xin said.
A final ruling is set for later this year on the provisional tariff increases imposed by the European Commission this summer on Chinese-made EVs, raising potential new risks for China’s automakers.
Sluggish European demand for electric vehicles is leading carmakers across the world to cut production and scale back their plans. Stellantis earlier in September said it was halting production of its 500 electric model for about a month.
Stellantis, the automaker forged from the 2021 merger of France’s PSA Group and the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Group, has kicked off a search for a successor to Tavares, whose term expires in early 2026, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
--With assistance from Albertina Torsoli.
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