MILAN (Reuters) -Stellantis has stopped making its Chinese partner Leapmotor’s T03 small electric car in Poland and is assessing alternative production options, the Franco-Italian automaker said on Tuesday.
The group “is no longer assembling Leapmotor’s T03 model at the Tychy plant, in Poland, since March 30,” it said in a statement.
“While the company remains fully engaged in the launch of Leapmotor vehicles in Europe, at the moment it is evaluating different production options,” Stellantis said, without providing further details, including whether the model might be relocated to another European plant.
The production halt was first reported on Monday by French newspaper Les Echos.
Stellantis did not say what caused the decision to stop T03 assembly. Last year, the company and its Chinese partner scrapped plans to build in Poland a second Leapmotor model, the B10 electric crossover.
That decision came after the Chinese government privately told automakers to pause big investments in European countries that backed extra European Union tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, sources told Reuters in November.
Poland was among the EU countries that supported tariffs.
Spain, which abstained on EU tariffs, is now favoured for the production of the Leapmotor B10 EV.
Stellantis has a 51% stake in the Leapmotor International joint venture with its Chinese partner, with exclusive rights to export, sell and manufacture Leapmotor EVs outside China.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari. Editing by Alvise Armellini and Mark Potter)
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