Stellantis on Friday appointed Tianshu Xin, the chief executive of Leapmotor International, to lead its China and Asia-Pacific region — lifting the architect of Leapmotor‘s overseas expansion into the group’s top leadership.
The appointment takes effect on August 3, with Xin reporting directly to chief executive Antonio Filosa and joining the Stellantis leadership team while continuing to run Leapmotor International.
The Amsterdam-based joint venture has been led by Xin since its formation in November 2023, which handles all Leapmotor sales and operations outside Greater China.
Stellantis took its roughly 20% stake in Hangzhou-based Leapmotor in 2023 and built the international venture around the Chinese maker’s vertically integrated products, including range-extended powertrains — technology Xin has argued in interviews fits European charging realities particularly well.
Grégoire Olivier, the previous Asia-Pacific head, becomes a strategic advisor reporting to Xin.
Three Roles Converge on One Executive
Friday’s appointment concentrates the entire Stellantis–Leapmotor relationship in a single pair of hands.
Xin has run Leapmotor International — the 51/49 venture through which Stellantis sells and operates Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China — since late 2023, and added the roles of chief operating officer of Stellantis China and head of the Stellantis–Leapmotor alliance in February 2025.
Xin has spent about 30 years spanning operations, strategy, M&A and joint ventures, including senior Stellantis and Groupe PSA roles in China covering planning, partnerships and government affairs, membership of the China Executive Committee.
Separately, the executive has deep experience of the Dongfeng joint venture, along with earlier positions at Fiat Chrysler in Asia-Pacific powertrain strategy, supplier Visteon and research firm IHS.
The Expansion Push
Leapmotor International launched in Europe in September 2024 with the T03 city car and C10 SUV in nine countries, starting from zero.
Less than two years later, the brand is on course to top 100,000 European sales this year, exported a record 40,901 vehicles in the first quarter, and reached profitability in the venture’s second year, according to the company.
Overseas sales of 67,000 units in 2025 made Leapmotor the top exporter among Chinese EV startups, and shipments in the first five months of 2026 exceeded that full-year total.
The company posted its first annual profit of 540 million yuan last year and targets 5 billion yuan in 2026.
Globally, Leapmotor set a third consecutive monthly record in June with 93,376 deliveries, up 94.5% year over year, lifting first-half volume 60.8% to 356,487 units against a one-million target for 2026, of which 100,000 to 150,000 are expected internationally — a run that followed May’s then-record 81,569.
June cleared, for the first time, the roughly 83,000-unit monthly average the million-unit goal implies; even so, the first half covered about 35.6% of the target, leaving a second half that must run near 107,000 units a month — arithmetic that now sits inside Xin’s enlarged remit.
Localization is the next phase Xin has mapped publicly: knocked-down assembly at Stellantis‘ Spanish operations, which he has called the gateway market for its industrial capacity and costs, alongside C10 assembly already under way at the group’s Gurun plant in Malaysia.
The push has reached North America too, where Stellantis has been weighing Leapmotor assembly in Canada even as a tariff dispute over the brand’s imports drew in China’s ambassador — a sign of how political the export ramp has become, and of why the region now reports to the executive who knows the file best.
A Second Appointment Alongside
Friday’s release paired Xin’s promotion with a new group function.
Pablo Di Si, most recently president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group North America, becomes chief performance officer on the same date, reporting to Filosa and leading execution of the company’s Value Creation Program.
Filosa said the two executives strengthen the leadership team as the company works to “sharpen execution, accelerate value creation” across regions and functions, and thanked Olivier for his leadership.
