AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said he believes there’s opportunity to expand the automaker’s partnerships in North America to fill plants and increase sales — and potentially to produce Chinese-branded vehicles outside of the U.S.
Filosa on Thursday said the company “for sure” sees opportunity in expanding its production and sale of vehicles with Chinese automaker Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. to Mexico as well as potentially Canada.
“I believe that there is space in Mexico. … There is maybe space in Canada. We’ll see,” he said during a news conference after an investor day at the company’s North American headquarters near Detroit. “Now there is no space in the United States. We don’t see that.”
Legacy automakers, especially ones with deep roots in the region such as Stellantis, have been concerned about Chinese automakers entering North America. U.S. executives have expressed worries that the operations could be a gateway to American consumers.
Amid trade tensions with the U.S., Canada is currently allowing 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles to be imported for retail sales annually at a tariff rate of 6.1%.
A notable option in Canada is a large Stellantis assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. The plant hasn’t produced a new vehicle since the end of production of the Dodge Charger and Challenger in December 2023.
Bloomberg News last month reported Stellantis was discussing options for building electric vehicles in Canada with Leapmotor, citing people familiar with the matter.
Filosa said Stellantis’ tie-ups with Leapmotor continue to expand as a way for the company to grow its sales, learn from its Chinese counterpart and share capital expenses.
Since 2023, Stellantis has also been a 51% majority owner of a joint venture with Leapmotor that includes the exclusive rights for the sale and manufacturing of their products outside greater China.
Stellantis, which is the largest shareholder of Leapmotor with a 21% stake, earlier this week announced an expanded partnership with the Chinese automaker as well as the formation of a European joint venture with Chinese automaker Dongfeng.
In the U.S., Filosa said he also still sees opportunities for the company to partner with non-China brands, like with the announcement it made earlier this week to explore collaborations with Jaguar Land Rover.
“We see potential to partner in [the] U.S. with other projects,” he said during the media briefing. “JLR, it is a partnership that can work very well for both parties because you see that the profile of what we industrialized, build, is not that different … so there is some synergy in the product conception that we can share with JLR.”
By CNBC