Stellantis, a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation known for numerous world-renowned brands like Dodge and Fiat, has reportedly outwitted European Union (EU) tariffs by shifting the production of one of its Chinese EVs to Poland. Like American authorities, the European Union recently decided to impose hefty taxes/tariffs to tackle the influx of Chinese EVs. However, EVs built on European soil will not be burdened by any such taxes that are set to go into effect in just two weeks: build a Chinese EV on European soil.

Stellantis devised a strategic maneuver to circumvent the hiked tariffs on imported China-made EVs. The hiked tariffs are set to take effect within a couple of weeks, but the automotive giant has already started producing the Chinese-made Leapmotor T03 EV at its Tychy, Poland-based factory.

If we go by the claims of analysts at Jefferies, Stellantis is also planning to increase production of its Chinese EVs in Poland from the month of September this year. It means that the automaker could shift the production of some more EVs from China to European soil.

The compact 142.5-inch-long Leapmotor T03 EV is a city electric car that is the first model to be produced in Poland as part of Stellantis’ joint venture (JV) with Leapmotor. The collaboration between the two companies was revealed in 2023. The Polish manufacturing facility that will build the T03 EV is already building the Alfa Romeo Junior and Fiat 500. The Tychy plant boasts an advantage over other plants owned by Stellantis – it can produce vehicles at a much lower cost than other European facilities.

Stellantis management revealed that production costs at the Tychy plant is approx. $430-$530 per vehicle, while producing the same vehicle at one of Stellantis’ Italian plants would cost nearly double.
It is worth-mentioning here that the Leapmotor T03 is already on sale in some of the European markets as the automaker has been importing it from China for the last many months. Last year, the compact electric car was available in France for approx. $21,000 and it even qualified for state incentives.

Stellantis’ proactive approach not only enabled the automobile giant to sidestep the hiked EU tariffs but also strengthened its position to capitalize on growing demand for accessible EVs in Europe. Moreover, Stellantis’ partnership with Leapmotorexamplifies a forward-thinking strategy combining global manufacturing expertise with regional market insight, ensuring competitive EV offerings.