Vauxhall owner to sell Chinese budget EVs in UK

Proactive Investors – Vauxhall owner Stellantis (LON:0QXR) is preparing to import low-cost Chinese electric vehicles into the UK on the same day Joe Biden imposed new tariffs on cars imported from the Asian country to the US.

In a joint venture, Stellantis, which also owns brands like Jeep, Fiat and Citroen, is bringing vehicles made by Leapmotor, its Chinese partner, to Britain in March, 2025 and to Europe in September.

Britain recently implemented a quota which requires at least 22% of a carmaker’s sales to be fully electric models, a decision which faced criticism from Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares.

Stellantis plans to bring over Leapmotor’s TO3, a small Fiat-500-style EV with a range of 165 miles per charge, and the five-seater C10 SUV .

In China, the compact models typically sell for around £5,500, but Stellantis and experts believe the car could be sold for between £17,200 and £22,000 in the UK.

Stellantis’ plans were unveiled as the Biden administration said it would be placing a 100% US import tariff for Chinese EVs.

The US also upped import tariffs on other green technology components such as solar panels, semiconductors and battery components.

Tavares said Biden’s move showed signs of “very strong protectionism”, which would only lead to higher prices for US consumers.

“Protectionism has a lot of drawbacks,” he said.

Biden’s representatives defended the decision after warning that the Chinese had produced renewable products at a rate ahead of demand, which could lead to a saturated market.

“That is going to flood the global market with supply that undercuts our ability to build productive capacity at home and leaves all of us across the world more vulnerable to economic coercion,” a senior White House official explained.

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