Leapmotor and Opel are preparing to join forces to jointly create a new model. Reuters reports this, explaining that the two brands of the Stellantis group are already in advanced negotiations. The focus of this agreement would be a new 100% electric Opel-branded SUV that would use the Chinese automaker’s technology and would be produced at the Zaragoza plant in Spain. The main target of this decision is reduce the costs and development times of a new electric model.
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Leapmotor and Opel join forces
Stellantis is in fact shifting its focus towards hybrid models. Not surprisingly, at the beginning of this year it announced a write-down of 25 billion dollars related to the reduction of its plans for electric vehicles. We know little about this new electric SUV, other than that it will share a common architecture with Leapmotor’s B10 compact crossover, which will be assembled by the end of the year for the European market at the Spanish plant in Zaragoza. According to rumors, production of the new Opel model is expected to start in 2028 with an annual production target of 50.000 vehicles.
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Alfa Romeo could also be involved
Based on the terms under discussion reported by Reuters, for the creation of this 100% electric SUV, Leapmotor would provide key technologies and components, including electronic and electrical parts. For its part, Opel would handle the exterior design. A significant part of the vehicle’s development, however, would take place in China. Talks between Stellantis and Leapmotor on the Opel project began at the end of 2025 and an agreement could be reached as early as this month. And it might not end there, because it seems that the group has started preliminary talks with Leapmotor on the potential development of an Alfa Romeo model using the same architecture at the Zaragoza plant, again to optimize its production capacity.
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