There had been rumors in recent weeks that Leapmotor cars would be produced at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy. It seems that this will not be the case, as Stellantis and the Chinese company have decided on the plant in Poland to house the production of Leapmotor’s cars and future cars made by Leapmotor International, a joint venture 51 percent owned by Stellantis.
Leapmotor will produce cars in Poland together with Stellantis
Leapmotor will produce its T03 electric minicar at the Stellantis plant in Tychy, Poland. The automotive group led by Carlos Tavares has invested 1.5 billion euros to buy 20 percent of the Chinese company. According to Reuters reports, production of this model is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024.
The T03 is available only as an electric version, with a range of about 280 km. Dedicated pricing for European markets has not yet been revealed and will probably be shared soon, but it should be higher than the Citroen e-C3, which costs 23,300 euros ($25,200). Should the price be higher than the e-C3, it will probably be a bit too much for an electric minicar.
Production of the electric minicar will not take place from scratch, but Leapmotor will send partially assembled kits that will be finished at the Tychy plant. As for the Mirafiori plant in Turin, currently struggling due to low demand for Fiat 500e and Maserati, Tavares said he has a plan.
In recent weeks there had been talk of moving production of the thermal Fiat 500 to Mirafiori, which could guarantee 175,000 units a year. With the 500e “sibling”, the Italian plant in Stellantis could exceed 200,000 units produced per year and ensure stability for employees. In the coming weeks, the solutions could be different as originally planned, so we just have to wait for more news on the issue.