
Stellantis to debut Leapmotor's EVs in South Africa this year
The C10 is an electric SUV with a petrol engine used purely to charge the battery. More Leapmotor models are expected to be launched next year, including fully electric models, Mike Whitfield, managing director of Stellantis South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, said in a statement.
Leapmotor created waves with its recent rollout of the all-electric B10 SUV equipped with smart-driving features and lidar sensing technology for less than $18,000.
In 2023, Stellantis bought a 21% stake in Leapmotor for $1.6 billion. The two automakers also formed the joint venture Leapmotor International, in which Stellantis holds a 51% stake.
Leapmotor will help the world's fourth-largest automaker widen its range of affordable EVs, as it presses ahead with electrification at a time when other Chinese automakers including BYD and Chery Auto are aggressively expanding into Africa.
"South Africa is a critical market for Stellantis, and we are fully committed to unlocking its potential through product, innovation and meaningful partnerships," Whitfield said.
Stellantis, which entered the South African market four years ago, is building a new plant in the country, with a maximum capacity of 100,000 vehicles by 2030. It plans to become the No.1 player in the Middle East and Africa region with one million vehicles sold by 2030, with 35% expected to be electric.
In 2024, it sold 500,000 cars in the Middle East and Africa.
With over 60% of the South African market concentrated below the 400,000 rand ($22,755) price point, Stellantis' Citroën C3 range is gaining strong traction, with the upcoming C3 Basalt set to complete a competitive lineup in the accessible B-hatch and SUV segments early next year, Whitfield said.
Stellantis will also launch the Citroën C3 Hola panel van, its entry into the growing commercial vehicle sector aimed at small business owners.>
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Business Standard
24 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Trump announces Asia trade deals, offers relief to some, others await
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Economists expect tariffs to sap growth even with trade deals Even after Trump has pulled back from the harshest of his threatened tariffs, the onslaught of uncertainty and higher costs for both manufacturers and consumers has raised risks for the regional and global economy. Economists have been downgrading their estimates for growth in 2025 and beyond. The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it had cut its growth estimate for economies in developing Asia and the Pacific to 4.7 per cent in 2025 and 4.6 per cent in 2026, down 0.2 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points. The outlook for the region could be further dimmed by an escalation of tariffs and trade friction, it said. Other risks include conflicts and geopolitical tensions that could disrupt global supply chains and raise energy prices, as well as a deterioration in China's ailing property market. Economists at AMRO were less optimistic, expecting growth for Southeast Asia and other major economies in Asia at 3.8 per cent in 2025 and 3.6 per cent next year. While countries in the region have moved to protect their economies from Trump's trade shock, they face significant uncertainties, said AMRO's chief economist, Dong He. Uneven progress in tariff negotiations and the potential expansion of tariffs to additional products could further disrupt trade activities and weigh on growth for the region, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Microsoft knew SharePoint security flaw but failed to patch; Alibaba launches new AI coding model; Amazon to buy AI wearable startup
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Trump deals bring some clarity for world's manufacturing base
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads After months of uncertainty, President Donald Trump 's latest tariff deals are providing clarity on the broad contours of a new trade landscape for the world's biggest manufacturing on Tuesday announced a deal with Japan that sets tariffs on the nation's imports at 15%, including for autos — by far the biggest component of the trade deficit between the countries.A separate agreement with the Philippines set a 19% rate, the same level as Indonesia agreed and a percentage point below Vietnam's 20% baseline level, signaling that the bulk of Southeast Asia is likely to get a similar rate.'We live in a new normal where 10% is the new zero and so 15% and 20% doesn't seem so bad if everyone else got it,' said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist for emerging Asia at Natixis. At a 15%-20% tariff level, it's still profitable for US companies to import from abroad rather than produce similar goods at home, she US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he'll meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for their third round of talks aimed at extending a tariff truce and widening the discussions. That suggests a continuing stabilization in ties between the world's two largest economies after the US recently eased chip curbs and China resumed rare earths exports.'We're getting along with China very well,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday. 'We have a very good relationship.'Throw it all together and a level of predictability is finally emerging after six months of tariff threats that had at one point jacked up tariff levels to 145% on China and near 50% on some smaller Asian exporters. Investors cheered the moves, with Asian shares rising the most in a month and contracts for the S&P 500 up 0.2%. The Nikkei-225 index in Japan jumped 3.2%, with Toyota Motor Corp. and other carmakers leading the gains.'What's been interesting to me is that equity markets still have been fairly rosy about the changes,' Albert Park, chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. 'I'm not sure they've priced in fully all of the effects that are likely to occur from the disruption of higher tariff rates.'Back in April, Trump hit the pause button on the steepest levies after a rare combination of weakening US stocks, bonds and the dollar showed investors were unnerved by his protectionist salvos. That bought time for policymakers from Tokyo, Manila and across the globe to negotiate more palatable the latest deals bring some relief, key questions remain. 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The average tariff rate on the world's second-largest economy remains the highest in the region, and continued White House pressure on the nation's technology and trade ambitions means companies may find more stability and industry groups have been flagging for months that uncertainty is worse than tariffs for investment. The manufacturing sector across the ASEAN region saw the most notable weakening since August 2021, according to S&P PMI, led by a sharper decrease in new orders, major job cuts and weaker purchasing front-loading of shipments from Asia to the US to get ahead of the incoming levies will likely slow once the new rates kick in. While there's relief that tariff rates for Southeast Asian economies and 15% for Japan are lower than some of Trump's earlier threats, the reality is that they're far higher than they were before he took latest deals 'continue the trend of tariff rates gravitating towards the 15-20% range that President Trump recently indicated to be his preferred level for the blanket rate instead of 10% currently,' Barclays Plc analysts including Brian Tan wrote in a note. That skews risks to GDP growth forecasts for Asia 'to the downside,' they US consumers who have so far been spared the tariff ticket shock, economists warn there's likely to be some pass through in the months ahead. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists now expect the US baseline 'reciprocal' tariff rate will rise from 10% to 15% — an outcome that threatens to fuel inflation and weigh on economic Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has argued he wants to see where tariffs land and how they filter through the economy before cutting interest rates — much to the annoyance of now, the US president is hailing a win on trade, and investors seem overall relieved.'I just signed the largest trade deal in history — I think maybe the largest deal in history — with Japan,' Trump said at an event at the White House on Tuesday after announcing the deal on social media. 'It's a great deal for everybody.'