Stellantis, Dongfeng Plan New JV to Sell Voyah-Branded Cars in Europe — 2nd Update

By Dominic Chopping

Jeep-maker Stellantis and Chinese partner Dongfeng Group plan to establish a new joint venture that will manufacture and sell Dongfeng vehicles in selected European markets.

The plan to produce Chinese cars in Europe is the second such deal Stellantis has announced in as many weeks, following its agreement to a tie-up with Leapmotor to produce the Chinese automaker's electric vehicles in Spain.

Under the agreement outlined Wednesday, the companies intend to examine the potential production of the vehicles at the Stellantis plant in Rennes, France. This would align production with proposed Made-in-Europe regulations that seek to secure European industry through local-content requirements among other things.

The proposed deal will see the joint venture take responsibility for the sale and distribution of Dongfeng's Voyah-branded NEVs--a category that includes fully electric variants and plug-in hybrids.

Stellantis will lead the venture with a 51% share.

"We will give our customers an even greater choice of competitive products and pricing, leveraging the best of Stellantis' global footprint alongside Dongfeng's access to China's advanced new energy vehicles ecosystem," Stellantis Chief Executive Antonio Filosa said.

The plan comes after the two automakers recently agreed to partner on the production of EVs under the Peugeot and Jeep brands in China that will be sold in the domestic market and overseas.

As competition from tech-heavy Chinese-made cars continues to erode market share for Western carmakers both in China and increasingly in Europe, companies are turning to partnerships as they seek to tap into Chinese technological advances and cut costs through shared purchasing and engineering.

Stellantis has embraced the partnership model. Having worked with Dongfeng for over 30 years through a deal to produce Peugeot and Citroen-branded vehicles in China, it bought a stake in Chinese EV maker Leapmotor in 2023 and set up a joint venture to sell its EVs outside of China.

Earlier this month, Stellantis extended the partnership through an agreement to manufacture Leapmotor cars at two factories in Spain, and the companies are also codeveloping a small electric SUV under the Opel brand that will be built in Spain.

Outside of Europe and China, Stellantis said in a separate announcement that it will work with Jaguar Land Rover to explore opportunities in the U.S.

Under a non-binding deal signed Wednesday, the two companies will look at potential savings they could make by collaborating on product and technology development in the country.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2026 09:36 ET (13:36 GMT)