Will China enter into an economic war against Europe? After the European Union adopted an increase in customs duties on electric cars manufactured in China, repercussions could be felt. The first victim would be Poland, deprived of Stellantis' new electric car, the Leapmotor B10.
In Poland, Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, etc.) produces the Chinese Leapmotor T03 electric car under license and planned to also assemble the B10 SUV there. However, a directive coming directly from the Chinese parent company gave vindictive instructions!
More Leapmotor production in Poland
After suffering from rising customs duties in Europe, the Chinese government asked national manufacturers to cancel planned investments on the continent.
And Poland, having voted in favor of this increase in customs duties, should pay heavily for this political choice. Indeed, while the B10 was to be assembled in the Stellantis factory in Tychy, the brand's managers ultimately decided to relocate production to Germany, to the Opel factory in Eisenach or to Slovakia if we are to believe Reuters. Quite simply since Germany and Slovakia voted against the increase in customs duties.
As a reminder, this electric SUV developed in China will compete with the Peugeot e-3008 and Renault Scénic, with an expected range of 422 km thanks to a 69.9 kWh battery and a 210 horsepower engine.
So much the worse for Poland
The big loser in this story seems to be Poland and its economy. The jobs which should have been created by this new industrial activity in the Tychy factory will go to Germany. Poland is one of 10 countries to have voted in favor of increasing customs duties. Due to this political choice by Polish leaders, the Eastern European country will likely have to do without Chinese foreign direct investment.
Germany and Slovakia, on the contrary, chose to vote against this increase. The German automobile industry has significant activity in China.
Leapmotor can also be considered a loser. The cost of producing its SUV in Germany will be higher than in Poland. There is no guarantee that Leapmotor will manage to maintain its price target below 30,000 euros for the B10.
According to information from Reuters, Stellantis and Leapmotor declined to comment on this information. The two people familiar with the matter asked to remain anonymous. We will therefore have to wait for a probable formalization in the coming weeks.
Our Twitch show SURVOLTÉSit's every other Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.: meet us to talk about electric cars or electric bikes, around debates, interviews, analyzes and games!
