Opel turns to Chinese EV technology for new European-built SUV

The German carmaker’s new electric family SUV will use Leapmotor architecture and battery systems while being designed in Germany and built in Europe

Opel will use Chinese electric vehicle technology in a new European-built SUV, in a major sign of how traditional carmakers are turning to China to develop cheaper electric cars faster.

The new C-segment model will use core components from Chinese car maker Leapmotor’s latest electric architecture and battery technology, while being designed and created by Opel in Rüsselsheim.

The SUV is expected to be the first Opel model from an expanded partnership between Stellantis, Opel’s parent company, and China’s Leapmotor, with development teams working in Germany and China.

Opel says the collaboration will cut development time to less than two years and allow sales to begin as early as 2028.

The vehicle will combine Leapmotor’s electric systems with Opel’s design, on-board experience, chassis engineering, lighting and seating technology.

It will sit alongside Opel’s current SUV range, which includes the Grandland, Frontera and Mokka.

The project marks a significant step for a long-established European carmaker, bringing Chinese EV architecture and battery systems into a vehicle designed, engineered and built in Europe.

Production at Stellantis’s Zaragoza plant in Spain, where the Opel Corsa has been built since 1982, is “under evaluation”, according to the firm.

Opel CEO Florian Huettl said: “The partnership with Leapmotor should enable a development time of less than two years. 

“With this, Opel is planning a further important step in the development of state-of-the-art and accessible electric vehicles for our customers.”

Opel said the parties are carrying out feasibility studies and pre-development work under existing arrangements, with wider industrial cooperation still subject to final agreements and customary approvals.

Xavier Chéreau, chairman of the Opel supervisory board and Stellantis Chief Human Resources and Sustainability Officer, added: “With this project, Opel would bring together German engineering excellence with global technological innovation speed.

“This innovative spirit defines the next chapter of our global collaboration with Leapmotor and Opel is taking on a pioneering role with this project.”

READ MORE: Highway robbery: how the UK’s post-Brexit electric car policy blew a fuse. Post-Brexit, Britain steered clear of EU-style additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in a bid to make them cheaper. Instead, UK drivers are paying much the same while manufacturers appear to pocket the difference, says Steve McCauley.

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_{Main image: Courtesy, Opel}