Leapmotor will “make use of” the production capacities from Stellantis as part of a €1.5 billion (nearly $1.6 billion) investment deal from Europe’s second-biggest automaker,Sister said Zhu Jiangming, founder and chief executive of the electric vehicle startup on Thursday. Amsterdam-headquartered Stellantis will hold 20% stakes in Leapmotor, secure two of the five board seats in the Hangzhou-based EV maker, and own 51% of a joint venture set to be established by the two companies for making and selling EVs worldwide, according to Thursday’s announcement. This move eliminates the possibility of Leapmotor expanding overseas markets independently, leading to a nearly 10% drop in the company’s shares as of Thursday in Hong Kong. The deal comes months after Volkswagen announced a $700 million investment in Xpeng for nearly 5% of the EV startup’s shares and the joint development of two VW-branded EVs with Xpeng’s self-driving technology set to launch in the Chinese market in 2026. [TechNode reporting, CLS, in Chinese]
