Stellantis has deepened ties with Chinese automakers on multiple fronts in recent weeks — expanding its Leapmotor partnership in Europe, engaging BYD on idle factory capacity, and now reinforcing a 34-year-old joint venture with Dongfeng in China.
The two companies announced on Friday a strategic cooperation agreement to produce new energy vehicles under the Peugeot and Jeep brands at the Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobile Co., Ltd (DPCA) joint venture plant in Wuhan, China.
Production is expected to begin in 2027.
Under the agreement, and subject to required approvals and implementation agreements, the DPCA joint venture will initially produce two all-new Peugeot-branded new energy vehicles and two Jeep-branded off-road new energy vehicles at its Wuhan facility.
Peugeot models will target both the Chinese market and export to global markets, while the Jeep models are intended for global distribution.
Combined investment for the project exceeds 8 billion yuan ($1 billion).
Stellantis is expected to contribute around €130 million ($151 million).
Peugeot’s Return to China
Peugeot‘s new models will be based on the design language unveiled at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, marking a fresh attempt by the French brand to regain a foothold in the world’s largest automotive market.
DPCA — originally established in 1992 as one of the earliest Sino-foreign automotive joint ventures — has seen its relevance in China erode significantly over the past decade as domestic competitors reshaped the market.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa described the move as a way to leverage more than three decades of shared expertise with Dongfeng, while Dongfeng Group Chairman Qing Yang framed the agreement as a turning point for DPCA.
“By integrating Hubei’s industrial strengths, Stellantis’ global layout advantages and Dongfeng’s intelligent electric vehicle technologies, a new path featuring complementary strengths and win-win outcomes for all parties has been forged,” Yang stated.
Beyond the production agreement, the two companies also signed a non-binding strategic memorandum of understanding to explore further cooperation across scale, R&D capabilities, and broader industrial synergies.
Chinese Partnerships
Friday’s Dongfeng announcement arrives amid a broader pattern of Stellantis deepening ties with Chinese automakers across multiple fronts — a strategy that has accelerated sharply under Filosa’s leadership.
Stellantis and Leapmotor expanded their partnership last week to include the co-development of a fully electric Opel C-SUV, a potential transfer of ownership of the Villaverde plant in Madrid to Leapmotor International’s (LPMI) Spanish subsidiary, and expanded joint purchasing.
Stellantis became Leapmotor‘s single largest shareholder in October 2023 with an approximately 21% stake — since diluted to roughly 19%.
The LPMI joint venture was launched in mid-2024 as a 51/49 Stellantis-led entity with exclusive rights to sell and manufacture Leapmotor products outside Greater China.
Since launching the T03 and C10 in Europe in 2024, LPMI has expanded to more than 850 European points of sale and service, recording over 40,000 European shipments in 2025.
Stellantis is now assessing a new production line at its Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza, Spain, to manufacture Opel‘s all-new C-SUV BEV, with a potential start of production in 2028.
Leapmotor is also considering bringing its compact SUV B10 to Zaragoza.
Separately, state-owned Hongqi is reportedly in talks with Stellantis to produce cars at the Zaragoza plant using Leapmotor‘s EV platform.
Hongqi and Leapmotor struck a platform supply agreement last year, and the first model built on it is expected to enter production later in 2026.
A deal would give the FAW Group luxury brand its first manufacturing base in western Europe without the cost and time of building a new factory.
Building vehicles inside Europe allows Chinese automakers to avoid the countervailing duties the European Commission imposed in October 2024 on battery electric vehicles imported from China.
BYD faces a 17% countervailing duty on top of the EU’s standard 10% import rate. Leapmotor, Nio, and XPeng are subject to a 20.7% duty.
Spain has emerged as a particular concentration point for Chinese EV production, with other brands also establishing a presence in the country.
Chery has already begun assembling vehicles at a former Nissan plant in Barcelona through its Ebro joint venture, and SAIC Motor’s MG is planning a standalone factory.
BYD Enters the Frame
BYD is also in talks with Stellantis and other European automakers about acquiring underutilized factories across the continent, Executive VP Stella Li revealed this week at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car conference in London.
Li confirmed BYD is discussing potential deals to take on plants in countries including Italy.
Unlike Leapmotor, which relies on Stellantis‘ distribution network and factory infrastructure, BYD has expressed a clear preference for operating plants independently rather than through joint ventures.
The executive noted that BYD‘s scale and pace of investment make partnership-based arrangements impractical.
Still, the fact that BYD is engaging Stellantis directly — alongside other unnamed European OEMs — signals how central the Franco-Italian group’s excess capacity has become in the broader Chinese-European manufacturing equation.
Different Markets, Different Approaches
Filosa said at the same FT summit earlier this week that he does not expect Chinese automakers to enter the United States market for at least a few years.
His restrained framing on the US contrasted sharply with the enthusiasm he has shown for Chinese partnerships in Europe and, now, in China itself.
On the Leapmotor relationship specifically, Filosa described the next stage as a new phase of development and industrial execution.
He pointed to Stellantis‘ May 21 Investor Day in Auburn Hills, Michigan, for further strategic details.
Next Wednesday’s event will offer the most detailed public view yet of how Filosa plans to integrate these overlapping Chinese partnerships into a coherent global strategy.
With Dongfeng in Wuhan, Leapmotor across Europe, Hongqi potentially in Zaragoza, and BYD circling idle factories, Stellantis has positioned itself as the primary western bridge for Chinese automakers seeking global manufacturing access.
Stellantis‘ broader approach under Filosa has been market-by-market — small EVs and affordable models for Europe, and hybrids and range-extended vehicles for the US.
In Canada, however, the strategy has encountered friction.
Ottawa rejected a proposed Leapmotor knock-down kit assembly plan at Stellantis‘ idled Brampton, Ontario plant in April, with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly laying out conditions that effectively ruled out the SKD-based model.
Stellantis has not confirmed or denied the Leapmotor talks for Brampton.
