Stellantis has signed a new partnership with Dongfeng to build Peugeot and Jeep models in China – for local sale and global export.
The two firms have signed a new agreement, building on their existing partnership in China, which will see their joint venture – Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile (DPCA) – build two new Peugeot and two new Jeep models at its Wuhan factory from next year.
The Peugeot models will be based on the dramatic Concept 6 and Concept 8 show cars that recently made their debut at the Beijing motor show, previewing a rakish estate in the mould of the 508, and a new flagship SUV that’s larger than any car the French firm has yet produced.
Stellantis has yet to give any details of the Jeep models, but says they will be “off-road new energy vehicles”.
All four cars are intended for sale in global markets, Stellantis has confirmed, without clarifying which specific regions could take the new cars.
DPCA already builds and sells a range of Peugeot-badged cars in China, including the 4008, 5008 and 508 L.
The new deal – supported by “the favourable automotive industrial policies of the Hubei province and the Wuhan municipality” – is worth a combined €1 billion (£871m) of investment, the two firms said, of which Stellantis will contribute around €130m.
The announcement comes after Peugeot CEO Alain Favey told Autocar that the firm’s two new Dongfeng-based models would “test the water” of the two firms’ partnership, and were likely to be sold worldwide.
He said Peugeot planned to use Dongfeng’s architecture to cater to demands in the hugely competitive Chinese market – and said that some of the Chinese firm’s technology was “more advanced than what we can deliver in Europe”.
The new deal comes in line with Stellantis’ renewed focus on establishing partnerships for growth in key global markets – which CEO Antonio Filosa said this week would “be embedded in our strategy going forward”.
Speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit on Tuesday, Filosa hailed the importance of partnerships which are not “mono-directional” and “benefit both sides” – and suggested that more deals would follow as part of a strategy to grow Stellantis worldwide.
“Stellantis has been growing this last year, creating a clear view of being attractive for long-term partnerships to many players.
“We are attractive because we are strong in many regions, we are attractive because of our scale, and mostly because we have unbelievably strong brands, so our level of appeal is big.
“We understand that by working with a set of partners to build a roadmap of technological improvement, supply chain improvement, and maybe capacity utilisation – these are really good topics to work together and create benefits.”