Stellantis is deepening its 34-year partnership with Dongfeng, shifting from a struggling Chinese joint venture to a new strategy aimed at conquering Europe's competitive electric vehicle market.
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Stellantis to build Dongfeng EVs in France in new 51%-owned venture
Stellantis NV and Dongfeng Group plan to form a new 51/49 joint venture to manufacture and sell Dongfeng’s Voyah electric vehicles in Europe, leveraging Stellantis’s Rennes, France, factory and extensive distribution network to challenge established players.
"The plans we are announcing today take our recently strengthened cooperation with Dongfeng to an all-new dimension of an international partnership," said Antonio Filosa, Stellantis CEO, highlighting the venture's goal to offer customers "competitive products and pricing."
The non-binding agreement outlines a Stellantis-led entity responsible for sales, manufacturing, and engineering for Dongfeng’s new energy vehicles. The partners intend to localize production of Voyah-branded EVs at the Rennes plant, a move confirmed by France's CFDT trade union, to meet “Made-in-Europe” requirements.
This venture marks a strategic pivot for Stellantis, using a low-risk, asset-light model to gain a foothold in the affordable EV segment while giving Dongfeng unprecedented access to the European market. The move could intensify price pressure on European automakers already grappling with an influx of Chinese EV competitors.
A Shift From China Struggles
The new European focus represents a significant strategy shift for the 34-year-old partnership. The legacy Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobile (DPCA) joint venture in China was once a success, selling more than 700,000 vehicles annually at its peak. Today, the picture is starkly different, with Stellantis's total 2025 sales in China, including imports, collapsing to around 43,000 units. The decline follows the 2022 shutdown of its Jeep joint venture with GAC after serious disagreements, leaving the American brand in China with only a small import business.
China-Led Development for Global Models
While the new venture targets Europe, the partnership is also being redefined in China. DPCA plans to invest over $1.1 billion to develop four new models, but Stellantis is contributing only about $140 million of that total. New Peugeot and Jeep-branded new energy vehicles are set to be built at the Wuhan plant starting in 2027, but they will rely heavily on Dongfeng's platforms and technology. This underscores a reversal of roles, where the Chinese partner now provides the core engineering for future models aimed at both domestic and export markets.
The 51/49 structure gives Stellantis control and consolidation of the JV's financials, potentially boosting its European revenue with minimal capital outlay. For Dongfeng, it’s a capital-efficient entry into a key export market, bypassing the complexities of building a sales and service network from scratch. The success of the venture hinges on whether European consumers will embrace a Chinese brand, even one built in France and sold through a legacy automaker.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
[1] Stellantis and Dongfeng Announce their Intention to Form a European Joint Venture for Shared Sales & Distribution, Manufacturing, Purchasing, and Engineering Activities[2] Exclusive-Stellantis to build Voyah brand EV for China's Dongfeng in French plant, sources say[3] France's CFDT union confirms that Stellantis Rennes site will build Dongfeng car[4] Jeep And Peugeot Could Return To China With Dongfeng Help
