Vauxhall has announced plans to launch a new electric SUV in early 2028, developed in partnership with Chinese startup Leapmotor. The vehicle will be the first major collaboration between the brands under Stellantis ownership.
The unnamed SUV will measure around 4.5 meters long. It’ll slot between the Frontera and Mokka models below and the larger Grandland above in Vauxhall’s electric-only SUV lineup.
Stellantis owns Vauxhall outright and holds a 51% stake in Leapmotor through its joint venture.
The new model will use Leapmotor’s electric architecture and battery technology as its foundation. Vauxhall will handle design work, chassis development, lighting systems, and seating technology.
Florian Huettl, Opel-Vauxhall CEO, confirmed the development approach ahead of Stellantis Investor Day.
The SUV would be designed and created by us at Opel-Vauxhall in Rüsselsheim and developed by international teams located in Germany and China.
The partnership aims to drastically cut development time to less than two years.
European markets will see the vehicle badged as an Opel rather than Vauxhall. Production will take place at Stellantis’s Zaragoza plant in Spain – the same facility that currently builds the Corsa Electric, Peugeot e-208, and Lancia Ypsilon Elettrica.
Huettl described the collaboration as enabling “a major strategic step forward in terms of electrification and scaling in the shortest time possible.”
The project represents part of Stellantis’s broader European EV strategy. By combining Leapmotor’s electric technology with European manufacturing capabilities, the company expects to deliver new electric models faster and at lower price points.
Xavier Chéreau, chairman of the Opel-Vauxhall advisory board, emphasized the partnership’s potential.
With this project, Opel-Vauxhall would bring together German engineering excellence with global technological innovation speed.
He noted that Opel-Vauxhall is taking a “pioneering role” in the collaboration between Stellantis and Leapmotor.
Stellantis’s Wider EV Push
The Vauxhall-Leapmotor SUV fits into Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa’s vision for affordable electric vehicles across Europe.
This plan to expand our successful partnership with Leapmotor, a trusted peer and one of the fastest-growing, most respected new energy vehicle producers globally, is a true win-win for both of us.
Filosa expects the partnership to support local European production while advancing “world-class manufacturing of electric vehicles at affordable prices.”
Zhu Jiangming, Leapmotor’s founder and CEO, highlighted how the collaboration leverages both companies’ strengths – Leapmotor’s technology development and Stellantis’s global manufacturing reach.
The joint venture Leapmotor International has already expanded the Chinese brand’s presence to five continents in less than three years since its formation.
Vauxhall hasn’t revealed the SUV’s name yet, though company officials confirmed it will draw from the brand’s historical model names. The vehicle will compete in the increasingly crowded C-segment electric SUV market when it arrives in early 2028.
