Gasgoo Munich-In June 2026, the Stellantis-Leapmotor joint venture delivered a surprisingly strong set of results. For its first full fiscal year in 2025, sales topped 1 billion euros, operating revenue hit 809 million euros — a 462% surge — and net profit reached 44 million euros.
Just a month prior, Stellantis had been through a flurry of announcements: deepening ties with Leapmotor, signing a strategic pact with Dongfeng, and unveiling the "FaSTLAne 2030" five-year plan. All three materialized within a fortnight. From Leapmotor to Dongfeng, from equity stakes to building plants in Europe, Stellantis is aggressively courting Chinese automakers and suppliers — almost as if pleading for help. The old guard is bowing to the new challengers, and it is happening in real time.
From a €22.3 Billion Loss to 10 Visits to China: A Strategic Pivot Forced by Circumstance
On February 26, 2026, Stellantis released financial results that stunned the market. Full-year net revenue came to 153.51 billion euros, down 2% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the net loss ballooned to 22.33 billion euros. Just a year earlier, the company had posted a net profit of 5.52 billion euros.
The swing from a 5.5 billion euro profit to a 22.3 billion euro loss underscores the heavy toll exacted by the "Dare Forward 2030" strategy. This strategy was championed by former CEO Carlos Tavares.
The primary driver of the loss was 25.4 billion euros in non-recurring charges tied to a business restructuring launched in the second half of the year. Of that, 14.7 billion euros went toward realigning product plans with customer preferences and new U.S. emissions regulations. Another 2.1 billion euros related to scaling the EV supply chain. A further 5.4 billion euros covered changes in warranty provisions, European layoffs, and other operational shifts.
At the same time, Stellantis is facing a collapse in the Chinese market. In 2025, its sales in China totaled just 43,000 units, yielding a market share of a mere 0.2%. Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën sold 51,500 vehicles annually — a drop of over 90% from its peak of 710,000 units in 2015 — while GAC FCA has long since been liquidated. Brands like Jeep, Peugeot, and Citroën, once dominant in China, have effectively vanished from the consumer mindset.
Meanwhile, a capacity crisis is unfolding on its home turf in Europe. Core plants like the Mirafiori factory in Turin, Italy, are running at low utilization rates, with idle capacity costing the company billions of euros annually.
Stellantis faces a triple threat: massive financial losses, a shrinking share in China, and idle capacity in Europe. It has found its remedy: leveraging Chinese partners' technology and supply chains to turn its fortunes around.
Image Source: Stellantis Group
On June 23, 2025, Antonio Filosa officially took the helm as Group CEO. Just a month into his tenure, the new chief led a delegation of senior executives to Wuhan. In July, Stellantis and Dongfeng Group held closed-door talks focusing on core issues like new energy vehicle cooperation.
Reports indicate that over the ensuing 11 months, he and senior management made a total of 10 intensive visits to China. Such frequency in transcontinental travel is unprecedented in Stellantis's history.
The following May 21, Filosa officially unveiled the "FaSTLAne 2030" strategic plan at an Investor Day in North America. He announced plans to invest 60 billion euros by 2030 to launch more than 60 all-new models and 50 major refreshes. These include 29 pure electric vehicles, 15 plug-in hybrid or extended-range electric vehicles, and 24 hybrids.
Financial targets are equally explicit: by 2030, group revenue is set to rise from 154 billion euros in 2025 to 190 billion euros, with an adjusted operating margin of 7%. In terms of brands, Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, and Fiat have been designated as the four global core brands, receiving 70% of total investment.
The most striking shift in this strategy is the elevation of "partnerships" to a strategic pillar — and many of those partners are Chinese. Filosa stated at the Investor Day that the group plans to expand cooperation with Chinese partners in Mexico and Canada to absorb factory capacity.
Integrating Chinese partners' technology and supply chains could help Stellantis slash new vehicle development cycles from 40 months to 24 months and cut R&D costs by roughly 40%. The "FaSTLAne 2030" strategy marks a clean break from the former CEO's "asset-light" approach, positioning China instead as the central pivot for resolving the group's predicament.
In April 2026, Stellantis Executive Vice President and China COO Grégoire Olivier admitted in an interview: "In new energy vehicles, China may be a decade ahead of the world." Chinese automakers have a clear advantage in NEV R&D and production. "If you don't actively embrace this Chinese ecosystem, it is hard to succeed." This was no diplomatic pleasantry, but a realistic assessment from a century-old automaker reeling from painful losses.
From Complete Vehicles to Supply Chain: Accelerating Chinese Integration
With the strategic direction set, Stellantis moved quickly to turn blueprint into action.
Over the past year, names like Leapmotor, Dongfeng, CATL, and Pony.ai have featured frequently in Stellantis's official announcements and related reports. Stellantis wants not just Chinese automakers, but the Chinese supply chain itself. As industry observers have noted: "Only by bringing Chinese auto parts suppliers to Europe can Stellantis truly see a path to victory."
On the vehicle partnership front, Stellantis has made two key moves.
Image Source: Stellantis Group
The first move involves Leapmotor. In October 2023, Stellantis acquired roughly a 21% stake in Leapmotor for 1.5 billion euros. On May 8, 2026, the two sides announced an expansion of their partnership, marking the first application of Leapmotor's technology platform to the Opel brand.
Additionally, the Leapmotor B10 is slated for volume production in CKD mode at Stellantis's Zaragoza plant in Spain in Q4 2026. An Opel electric SUV based on Leapmotor technology is expected to launch in 2028. On June 23, Leapmotor International inaugurated its first overseas battery assembly workshop in Maron, Spain, with a planned annual capacity of about 65,000 battery modules. The two parties also plan to produce a new affordable EV, the E-Car, at the Pomigliano d'Arco plant in Italy.
The joint venture's performance data validate the viability of this model. In its first full fiscal year, 2025, sales exceeded 1 billion euros, revenue reached 809 million euros — a 462% increase — and net profit hit 44 million euros. Leapmotor's European sales also topped 30,000 units in 2025. As one commentary noted, "The alliance with Leapmotor has now become the template for Stellantis Group's development."
The collaboration between Leapmotor and Stellantis is widely viewed as the first large-scale export of a technology platform from the Chinese auto industry to a Western traditional giant. The roles have been reversed: from "market for technology" to "technology for market."
Image Source: Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën
The second move involves Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën. On May 15, Dongfeng Group, Stellantis, and several local industrial investors in Hubei signed a strategic cooperation agreement. They will jointly inject over 8 billion yuan into the joint venture, with Stellantis contributing approximately 130 million euros.
At the signing ceremony, officials including the Hubei vice governor and the Wuhan mayor were present, with representatives from all six parties signing on. According to the agreement, starting in 2027, the Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën plant in Wuhan will initially produce two Jeep off-road NEV models, while simultaneously advancing the launch of Peugeot NEVs. The vehicles will be sold globally, marking the Jeep brand's third return to the Chinese market.
The deeper significance of this joint venture lies in the shift in model. This collaboration completely abandons the traditional division of "foreign technology, Chinese market" in favor of deep synergy involving technology co-creation, brand co-building, and shared market success. Dongfeng is no longer a partner in the traditional sense, but a core provider of NEV manufacturing capability and supply chain efficiency. Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën is no longer a local assembly plant, but Stellantis's global NEV manufacturing and export hub.
Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën General Manager Lv Haitao remarked, "Core technologies developed in China are beginning to benefit the world." Stellantis Executive Vice President Grégoire Olivier added frankly, "Without deep cooperation with Chinese companies, it is difficult to gain a foothold in the global NEV race."
Beyond the Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën project, the two sides plan to establish a joint venture in Europe with Stellantis holding a 51% stake and Dongfeng 49%. Initially, it will handle the sales and distribution of Voyah's high-end NEVs in Europe, with discussions underway for localized production at the Rennes plant in France. On June 2, a Stellantis executive team visited the Voyah factory for an on-site inspection — just half a month after the agreement was signed.
Image Source: Maserati China
Additionally, rumors of collaboration regarding Maserati have been circulating. Reports suggest that Huawei and JAC Motors are in talks with Stellantis to jointly develop Maserati NEV models.
On June 17, Stellantis CEO Filosa stated at a hearing in the Italian Parliament that the group is in discussions with two capable partners regarding the Maserati business. These partners can bring advanced technology and high-quality solutions. He explicitly stated that Stellantis has no plans to sell Maserati at this time, though he did not reveal the partners' identities.
Regarding the news, Gasgoo contacted relevant personnel at HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility at the time, who responded with "no comment."
Beyond vehicle partnerships, Stellantis is undergoing a deep restructuring of its supply chain. As early as December 2024, CATL and Stellantis announced a 50-50 joint venture to build a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain. The investment reaches up to 4.1 billion euros. It is the largest single investment by a Chinese company in Spain.
The plant is scheduled to begin production in late 2026 with an annual capacity of 50 GWh. Currently, more than 250 workers and technicians are on-site, with approximately 2,000 Chinese workers expected to arrive subsequently to handle equipment installation, line assembly, and commissioning. Batteries produced at the plant will power vehicles built on Stellantis's new STLA One platform.
In the autonomous driving sector, Pony.ai, European mobility platform Bolt, and Stellantis jointly announced on June 9 that they would launch a Robotaxi pilot project in Luxembourg. The project will focus on verifying the safety, performance, and compliance of Pony.ai's seventh-generation Robotaxi in local traffic conditions, while Stellantis will provide MPVs built on its L4 autonomous driving platform.
From complete vehicles to supply chains, from batteries to autonomous driving, Stellantis is embedding the technology and capacity of Chinese partners into every key node of its global system. Whether this deeply integrated model can truly pull Stellantis out of its slump remains to be seen. However, based on its current layout, the group has bet the bulk of its chips on China.
Ambition and Predicament
Judging by Stellantis's series of moves in China, its ambitions extend far beyond simply establishing partnerships with a few Chinese companies. Public information reveals that Stellantis is opening its factory capacity, sales channels, and brand resources to external partners. It is trading Europe's idle capacity and distribution networks for Chinese automakers' technological prowess in intelligence and electrification.
Beyond its cooperation with Leapmotor and Dongfeng Group, Stellantis is exploring more diverse partnership models. For instance, it has opened its European sales network to Dongfeng's Voyah brand. Through a "technology licensing plus capacity leasing" model, Stellantis can help Chinese automakers navigate EU EV tariff barriers while simultaneously revitalizing its own idle European capacity.
However, the path to self-rescue is far from smooth.
First, brand revitalization presents a major hurdle. The Jeep brand is making its third return, following two failed attempts at localization. The dealer networks for Peugeot and Citroën have contracted significantly, their brand mindshare largely eroded by domestic competitors. For brands that have effectively vanished from China, regaining consumer mindshare in three or four years is a daunting challenge.
Analysts at Gasgoo Automotive note that competition in China's retail market is fierce, leaving few opportunities for Stellantis's brands. The only demographic they might truly capture are niche groups with a specific preference for French design, bluntly suggesting that "exporting may become their breakthrough."
Image Source: Jeep
They further analyzed that compared to Peugeot, Jeep retains a unique positioning in the off-road segment, particularly with strong acceptance in overseas markets. However, in China's hyper-competitive domestic market, consumers have complex demands — they want off-road capability, daily comfort, and intelligent features all at once. This places higher demands on Jeep's product definition capabilities.
At the same time, the window of opportunity for Stellantis is closing fast. The fruits of its cooperation with Chinese partners like Leapmotor and Dongfeng will not materialize into mass-produced vehicles until 2027 at the earliest. Meanwhile, Chinese NEV makers and supply chains are accelerating their technology and capacity exports to Europe, meaning the market landscape could shift dramatically by then.
Stellantis was already lagging behind competitors in its electrification transition. If it cannot rapidly bolster its product lineup using Chinese technology within the next two or three years, the difficulty of catching up will only intensify. Furthermore, Chinese automakers could shift from "partners" to powerful "competitors" in the future, and over-reliance on Chinese technology could weaken Stellantis's autonomous control.
Moreover, the level of support Stellantis's global resources will provide to its China projects remains uncertain. Analysts question how much tangible backing its global network and overseas channels can offer, and how many resources will actually be committed to these projects.
Industry insiders echoed this sentiment to Gasgoo: "Some foreign brands lag in electrification and intelligence because smaller automakers cannot bear high R&D costs; sustainable development requires a strong parent company." Yet Stellantis itself remains mired in losses, and financial pressure at the parent level has not eased. How much substantive investment it can allocate to Chinese projects remains an open question.
Financial pressure remains a hurdle Stellantis struggles to clear. Its stock has plummeted by over 44% year-to-date. Operations showed signs of recovery in the second half of 2025, with net revenue reaching 79.25 billion euros, a 10% year-on-year increase. Still, the massive 22.3 billion euro hole has yet to be filled.
Is this deep integration with China a mere painkiller for Stellantis, or a radical cure? Judging by current financial data, the 44 million euro net profit is just a first step; the mass-produced models arriving in 2027 will be the true test.
Conclusion:
Speaking at the earnings release, Filosa acknowledged: "Our 2025 results reflect the cost of overestimating the pace of the energy transition. They also reflect the need to realign our business around customer demand — giving all customers the freedom to choose vehicles with pure electric, hybrid, or internal combustion engines." He added, "In 2026, we will focus on closing execution gaps and driving profitable growth."
Yet, there is a long road between paper losses and products hitting the road. The game Stellantis is playing in China has only just begun.
