Leapmotor, Stellantis’ Chinese automotive partner, has opened a European Innovation Centre in Munich, Germany, as it seeks to deepen its footprint in the European market.

The centre is located in the Schwabing Freimann district.

It will focus on bringing European design expertise into Leapmotor’s product development process.

The Munich facility is the first innovation centre Leapmotor has established outside China. It also represents the company’s first fixed operational footprint in Europe.

The opening signals a change in Leapmotor’s international strategy, moving beyond exporting products towards building local design and engineering capability.

At the opening event, Yu Shuyue, head of Leapmotor’s global design centre, presented the company’s design concept using the new B03X as an example.

Leapmotor described the B03X as embodying its “technological natural aesthetics 2.0” design language. The model is intended to carry Leapmotor’s family design identity into a new product segment targeting global markets.

The Munich centre will operate as a creative hub for collaboration with European designers and engineers.

Leapmotor entered the European market in late 2024 through a distribution partnership with Stellantis, which holds a 21% stake in the brand.

Stellantis already distributes Leapmotor vehicles in Europe via its dealer network, including the C10 SUV.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Stellantis is exploring an expansion of its joint venture with Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies.

The reported plan would involve deploying Leapmotor’s EV technology across several of Stellantis’ European mass-market brands.

The potential move comes as Stellantis looks to reduce EV development costs and respond to competition in Europe from Chinese rivals such as BYD and MG, as well as regional competitors Volkswagen and Renault.