Western brands are looking for the perfect car. Their way of achieving this is to sell us renowned Chinese cars

There was a day when China lured Europe with the promise of vacant land and cheap labor. Today those days are over. Today the automobile industry has taken the road back. Today, more and more Western manufacturers are partnering with Chinese companies. And the reason is obvious: to sell you a rebuilt Chinese car as your own.

What is happening? That traditional manufacturers are assuming Chinese technology to simply sell their product to you cheaper. A product that has little of its own and a lot of Chinese, for better and for worse.

The reasons They are different:

• Pressure to jump to the electric car
• Complications in making that leap (either due to monetary issues or internal difficulties)
• Duty
• A Chinese technology that is above
• Brands that are on the verge of bankruptcy

For some of these reasons (or the sum of several), more and more traditional manufacturers are intertwining with Chinese companies to advance their products. Products that, as we say, are sometimes pure Chinese cars “disguised” as Western.

The Stellantis case

It is the most recent but far from unique.

It is also probably the most complex.

The automobile conglomerate has faced serious financial complications in recent years. The cost reduction in many of its models led to the PureTech scandal. With the obligation to manage 14 brands, some of them have lost all types of identity. And their partnership with Leapmotor has shown them that they can get a lot of juice out of the Chinese electric car.

During the presentation of its latest strategic plan, the company confirmed that they have reached an agreement of 1,000 million euros with the Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng to produce Peugeot and Jeep cars in China. They will be New Energy cars (NEV). This is what they call electric cars and plug-in hybrids in China.

At the moment, not many more details have been given but a key detail does seem confirmed: These are cars designed to be sold in China and exported. That is, they are not cars manufactured in China whose main market is Europe. This suggests that they will probably be entirely Chinese cars that adopt the design language of these two Western brands.

Chinese production is not the only one that is compromised. The agreement opens the possibility for European plants to produce Dongfeng cars, specifically the Voyah brand. This allows Stellantis to keep the work committed in its plants (specifically, the Rennes plant in France is targeted) and Dongfeng could sell these electric cars without paying tariffs, as is happening right now.

But in addition to this latest news, China has become more and more rooted in the bowels of Stellantis. Since 2023, this automobile conglomerate manages the distribution and sale of Leapmotor outside China. This company is one of those that seems to have greater potential when it comes to selling electric cars at a low price.

For now, Stellantis has already confirmed that some of these cheap cars will be produced in Europe. Specifically, Figueruelas (Zaragoza) has been one of the chosen locations. This plant, therefore, will carry out small electric cars from Peugeot, Citroën and Opel and, in parallel, those from Leapmotor because they do not share a platform. However, the latter has already begun to be debated.

Tianshu Xin, director of Leapmotor International, pointed out a few weeks ago that “Leapmotor vs Stellantis They are two independent manufacturers and have their own platforms. However, one of the strategic objectives of this alliance is to generate synergies, which could include platforms and their components. “About 65% of Leapmotor components are manufactured in-house, and there are synergies that would allow Stellantis to use Leapmotor parts in its future platforms,” ​​in words reported by forumelectriccars.

A few days ago Stellantis presented its STLA Onethe new modular platform that will replace STLA Small for segments B, C and D. This leaves the door for the smallest size, that of segment A, just where the new Citroën 2 CV will arrive, which has fueled rumors about a greater presence of Chinese components or software in the car. To this we must add that A new Opel electric car from 2028 will have Leapmotor technology but German dress.

And the relationship between Stellantis and China does not seem to end here. In recent days the rumor has gained strength that the automobile conglomerate could look to JAC for a collaboration to move Maserati forward. The Italian sports car firm has already thrown away billions of euros in its jump to the electric car and JAC manufactures luxury cars together with Huawei in China. Producing them would allow Stellantis to put an electric Maserati on the street without taking more risks.

Are you sure it’s western?

That a car uses Chinese technology and is re-bodied like a Western one does not have to be bad in itself. In fact, automotive conglomerates such as Stellantis or the Volkswagen Group have made their synergies between brands one of the keys to building their success.

However, in some cases yes it can be a problem. When a brand boasts of being different and unique, it has a problem if it only uses a “disguise” to camouflage that what is under its body comes from outside its factories. This is what can happen to Maserati and what Mazda is playing with.

Until now, the Maserati customer has bought Maserati because, quite simply, their product was a Maserati. Italian elegance with a heart inherited from Ferrari to conquer a public that preferred its cars to, for example, Porsche. When you buy this type of car, not only buy numbersbuys an aesthetic and a sound and boasts of going against the grain compared to the majority German options such as Porsche or Mercedes. Just give up the engines ferraristas It was a serious problem for his image..

If Maserati only serves as an excuse to sell a Chinese car in Europe, it loses much of its essence. Mazda has to play with something like this, another company that has always boasted of doing different things and focusing on driving sensations. And it is that he Mazda 6e and the CX-6e They are entirely Chinese cars that are dressed in the prototypical shapes of the Japanese company. And, they assure the brand, its set-up.

However, with a skeleton which has nothing to do with Mazda, the saloon does not feel with the manufacturer’s typical feel. Its steering is not as direct, it does not have the same weight and the brake feel is not as good. Its dynamics, in short, are not up to par with the company’s other cars. Of course, it allows Mazda to sell an electric car in Europe with a minimum version.

And these cars are born from the joint company they have with Changan for distribution in China. Their cars are, really, Deepal vehicles that have been dressed like Japanese ones. The reason, as explained in The Coches.net podcastit is clear: take a breath.

Mazda needs to reduce its average emissions in Europe but it cannot make the economic effort that other much larger companies can make. Developing our own electric cars, with their own platforms and internal software, requires leveraging billions of euros. That bet for a company the size of Mazda is unviable. The last we know is that They delay their own electric car to 2029 but at least they will be able to have electric cars on the street, limiting the risks.

These strategies to use Chinese knowledge, or sell what is not as Western, are growing in Europe. In Spain we know it well because Ebro’s cars have very little Spanish and a lot of Chinese. At the moment, their cars are SUVs from the Chery Group that arrive semi-assembled in Barcelona where they are given the finishing touches.

The company, as in the case of Mazda, claims that they tune their cars internally to adapt them to European tastes (and the truth is that dynamically they are not so “soft” like some options from Omoda or Jaecoo) but the chassis and all components are developed and produced in China. The Ebros are, really, Chinese cars with a Spanish name.

And although these are the most extreme cases, other manufacturers such as the Volkswagen Group are already working with Chinese firms to seek synergies in the development of products designed for Europe. The best example is the agreement that the Germans have reached with XPeng to develop entirely electric platforms, after the German strategy has accumulated delays and failures such as Cariad for the development of its own software.

It is the latest case in a long list to which Geely’s Smart or Polestar can also be added. And of course from MG, the company that was once British and today is exclusively owned by SAIC. A company for which this Chinese conglomerate is seeking accommodation in Galicia and that despite its motto “from Europe to Europe”, everything indicates that it will be the same case as that of Ebro, Chery and Barcelona: Chinese cars manufactured finished off in Europe for Europe.

Photo | Mazda and Ebro

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