The Leapmotor B10 SUV will probably be assembled at Opel in Eisenach
- The Chinese carmaker Leapmotor, 20% owned by the Stellantis group since last year, presented four of its battery electric models (B10, C10, C16, T03) at the "Paris Motor Show" in October 2024. One of these models, the T03 city car (A segment), has already been assembled in CKD (level of integration deemed however not sufficient to obtain the French bonus) since June 2024 on the Stellantis (ex-Fiat) plant in Tichy, alongside the Fiat 600, Alfa-Roméo Junior and Jeep Avenger.
- A second model, the B10 SUV (C segment), was supposed to be assembled on this plant from the end of this year, but Poland's vote in favour of additional taxes on Chinese electric cars exported from China to Europe may have change this plan, probably on the recommendation of the Chinese government. Finally, the Leapmotor B10 SUV will be produced in Europe for the European market, but in a country that voted against the additional taxes and which also has a Stellantis factory. The choice will therefore fall either on Germany (Eisenach) or on Slovakia (Trnava).
- Inovev believes that the choice will rather fall on Eisenach which has significant overcapacity (60,000 cars produced in 2023 and as many in 2024 on a capacity of 200,000 units per year) and which already assembles a C-segment SUV, the Opel Grandland, including in a battery electric version. The Trnava site is for its part brought to a rapid saturation of its production capacities due to the production of all the Citroën C3, Citroën C3 Aircross and Opel Frontera.
- It is very difficult to predict the number of Leapmotor B10 that will be produced in Europe. Everything will depend on the success of the model and whether or not Stellantis wants to develop sales of the Chinese brand. However, we can consider that this model will have to make itself known, as for other Chinese models, which allows us to imagine a slow but continuous progression between 2025 and 2035. If the success of the model is confirmed, a volume of 50,000 units assembled in Europe in 2035 is a plausible hypothesis.