China is becoming a crucial battleground again for the world’s major automakers. Stellantis is now preparing a new strategy to bring Jeep and Peugeot back into serious contention in the world’s largest car market.
The plan is already taking shape. New generations of models will be developed with help from Dongfeng, using existing Chinese platforms.
Production is expected to take place at the factories of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile, known as DPCA, in Wuhan, located in China’s Hubei Province.
For Stellantis, this marks a major change in direction after years of falling sales and shrinking influence in China.
A Big Shift After Years Of Decline
DPCA was founded in 1992 and was once considered one of the more successful partnerships between a foreign automaker and China’s auto industry. During its strongest years, the joint venture produced and sold more than 700,000 vehicles annually.
Today, the picture looks very different. Sales of Peugeot, Citroën, and DS models in China have become very small, while Stellantis sold only about 43,000 vehicles in the country during 2025, including imported models.
Jeep’s decline was even sharper. The American brand sold more than 220,000 vehicles in China in 2017, but its partnership with GAC ended badly. That joint venture was shut down in 2022 after serious disagreements between the partners.
Since then, Jeep has remained in China mainly through imported models such as the Wrangler, Gladiator, and Grand Cherokee.
Dongfeng Will Play A Much Bigger Role
Stellantis is now trying a different approach, this time with much lower financial risk. DPCA plans to invest slightly over 8 billion Chinese yuan, or about $1.1 billion, to develop four new models.
Stellantis is expected to contribute only about $140 million, while most of the cost will effectively be carried by the Chinese side. That shows how important Chinese platforms and development resources have become, even for the world’s largest automaker groups.
Peugeot already hinted at this new direction during the Beijing Auto Show last April, when it showed the Concept 6 and Concept 8. Reports at the time suggested that production versions would use Dongfeng technology.
Production is now expected to begin in Wuhan in 2027. Alongside the new Peugeot models, the same production lines are also expected to build two completely new Jeep SUVs.
The Focus Will Be On Electrified Models
All future models will belong to China’s NEV category, which refers to new energy vehicles. That means the focus will be on battery electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Technical details have not been released yet. Since production is planned for less than two years from now, the first more concrete information should arrive soon.
Analysts believe Dongfeng will likely provide already developed modular platforms with modern battery systems and software architecture. That would allow Stellantis to significantly reduce development costs.
The strategy also reflects a broader reality in China, where local automakers have moved quickly in electric vehicles, software, batteries, and cost-efficient vehicle development.
Europe Could Also Feel The Impact
The more surprising part of the story concerns Europe. According to reports, Stellantis is already considering European production for some Chinese-developed models in order to use unused factory capacity on the continent.
That means future Peugeot and Jeep models developed with Dongfeng could eventually be built in Europe as well. A similar scenario has already been mentioned for a future compact Opel crossover developed on a Leapmotor platform.
This shows how much the global auto industry has changed in just a few years. European and American automakers once brought technology into China, while Chinese companies are now becoming key development partners and platform suppliers for Western brands.
At the same time, industry rumors suggest another Stellantis brand could also receive Chinese technology. Maserati is reportedly exploring cooperation with Huawei and JAC for a future model, further showing how central China has become in the global transformation of the auto market.
This article originally appeared on Autorepublika.com and has been republished with permission by Guessing Headlights. AI-assisted translation was used, followed by human editing and review.