Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa said on Tuesday he does not expect Chinese automakers to enter the United States market for “at least a few years,” even as the world’s fifth-largest automaker deepens its existing partnership with Chinese EV maker Leapmotor in Europe.
“I don’t see today Chinese OEMs in the US, sincerely. At least for a few years, starting from now,” Filosa said at the Financial Times Future of the Car summit in London, which EV attended.
The Italian-American CEO — who took over as Stellantis CEO nearly a year ago following the resignation of Carlos Tavares — was speaking hours after Representatives John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) formally introduced the Connected Vehicle Security Act in the US House.
“The US being one of the largest markets in the world, can provide ground for partnerships, maybe not with Chinese OEMs,” he said.
“So let’s see. It’s a matter of finding a common ground, a common roadmap to mutual benefits,” Filosa added. “This is all about partnership.”
Bullish on Leapmotor in Europe
Filosa’s restrained framing on the US contrasted sharply with his enthusiasm for the European Leapmotor relationship.
Last week, Stellantis and Leapmotor announced that they are exploring a major expansion of their partnership, first announced in 2023.
The planned moves include the co-development of a fully electric Opel SUV, a potential transfer of ownership of a plant in Madrid, and expanded joint purchasing through the Leapmotor International (LPMI) joint venture.
Stellantis became Leapmotor’s single largest shareholder in October 2023 with an approximately 21% stake, which has been diluted since then to approximately 19%.
“The partnership that we have very strong in Europe is with Leapmotor International,” Filosa said.
“It’s a partnership where we distribute Leapmotor cars — step one was very good, very successful. And now we’re standing into a new wave of development and of industrial execution.”
Stellantis’s chief described the next stage of the partnership as “a new wave of development and of industrial execution.”
“I truly believe, and also the other side — Mr. Zhu — we all believe that there is a long way to go together and to derive mutual benefits before creating any issue of sustainability for one or the other,” Filosa said.
He pointed to Stellantis’s Investor Day on May 21 for further details.
The Stellantis Brand Portfolio Argument
Filosa anchored his European commercial logic in the company’s heritage brand portfolio.
“When you go to Europe — to our customer, what really means being Stellantis is to be the company that provides beautiful Fiat, beautiful Peugeot, beautiful Citroën, beautiful Opel. Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, you name it,” he said.
“I believe that is what we really need, not only to preserve for Europe, but to invest and grow.”
The framing positions Stellantis as the cultural and industrial steward of European automotive heritage, with the Leapmotor relationship as the technology and cost-structure layer that enables continued investment in those legacy brands.
A Bifurcated Powertrain Strategy
The Filosa comments crystallised Stellantis’s market-by-market powertrain strategy — small EVs in Europe, hybrids and range-extenders in the US.
“While Europe is growing a lot, even pushed by the conflict in Iran, the US is adopting electrification more slowly,” Filosa said.
“It’s a transition to be managed. It’s a transition we will manage while we keep investing in electric cars for Europe and for the US as well.”
The Iran-war framing for European EV growth ties recent oil-price volatility to accelerated electrification — a thesis GM Board Member and former Tesla President Jon McNeill made publicly in late March.
Filosa pointed to two specific 2026 product launches as evidence of Stellantis’s continued investment.
“This year we will launch Jeep Recon battery electric vehicle,” Filosa said about the fully electric mid-size SUV positioned as the EV alternative to the Wrangler.
The 2026 Recon, unveiled in November 2025, is built on Stellantis’s STLA Large dedicated BEV platform with a 100.5 kWh battery pack and up to 250 miles of estimated range in its most efficient configuration.
Filosa added that the company would also launch “the first application of range extending in the world for large SUVs and for pickups” — describing the technology as a first-of-its-kind market introduction.
A Customer-Demand Framing
Filosa repeatedly framed Stellantis’s powertrain approach as customer-led rather than ideology-driven.
“Always listening to what our customers want. And in Europe, they want a small electric car. And they want small electric cars,” he said.
“And in the US, they want hybrids. They want range extending. They want electric cars in smaller volumes. And they want internal combustion engines.”
“We are ready to provide them all.”
The framing positions Stellantis distinctly from Detroit rivals.
General Motors has scaled back EV production targets through buyouts and layoffs, while Ford recently posted $4.8 billion in 2025 EV unit losses and said its “Model e” division would not be profitable until 2029.
Stellantis’s May 21 Investor Day will provide the most detailed view yet of Filosa’s strategic direction since he took over from Tavares last summer.
