The European car market is currently about as healthy as a rusted-out project car left in a damp basement. With demand flatlining and production costs soaring, the old guard, Stellantis and Ford, have officially entered the “bargaining” stage of grief. At the recent “Future of the Car Summit” in London, executives dropped the bravado and admitted that the only way to survive the looming EV apocalypse is to make nice with the very rivals they used to mock.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa tried to play it cool, suggesting that partnerships shouldn’t only be Chinese. It’s a bit like a guy claiming he’s open to dating anyone while he’s already picking out china patterns with a billionaire from Hangzhou.
Stellantis has already cemented a 21% stake in Leapmotor, effectively turning its Madrid and Zaragoza plants into subsidized staging grounds for Chinese tech. Filosa is even sweet-talking Dongfeng to figure out how to fill the echoing silence in his French factories. Apparently, the roadmap to “technological improvement” involves letting the Chinese take the wheel of your supply chain.
Then we have Ford, the brand that once “Built Ford Tough” and now builds “Ford Through Strategic Alliances”. Jim Baumbick, Ford’s European head, practically admitted that the Chinese have a “massive scale” that makes the Blue Oval look like a boutique hobbyist. Ford is currently finalizing a deal to let Geely invest in its Spanish plant, all while buddying up with Renault to produce electric vans. Baumbick calls this being “surgical” and “purposeful”.
The irony is thick enough to clog an EGR valve. By bringing Chinese production onto European soil, brands like Leapmotor can dodge tariffs, meet “Made in Europe” targets, and snag government subsidies intended to protect the local industry. It’s a masterclass in re-colonization.
While Filosa and Baumbick talk about “generating competitive scale,” the reality is a desperate scramble for the lifeboats. If you want to see the future of the European car, you might want to start brushing up on your Mandarin.
