Stellantis is expected to announce a joint venture with Dongfeng and an agreement to produce at least one Voyah-branded electric vehicle model at its factory in Rennes, France, according to Reuters. Under the letter of agreement signed between the two parties, Stellantis will own 51% of this joint venture.

Voyah is Dongfeng's luxury vehicle brand. Producing these vehicles at the French factory will help the company avoid European Union tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China. This move follows an agreement announced last week, under which Dongfeng will produce Jeep and Peugeot brand vehicles in China.

This joint venture also positions Stellantis at the forefront of efforts by traditional automakers to encourage Chinese car companies to utilize underutilized factories across Europe.

The Voyah Dream electric MPV. Photo: Voyah

Dongfeng remains a relatively new name in Europe, selling vehicles in only a few markets, including Italy and Poland. According to data from Dataforce, in 2025, the company sold only 3,210 Dongfeng and Voyah brand vehicles across Europe.

Chinese automakers like Chery are actively seeking to lease surplus factory capacity from European manufacturers as a fast track to produce vehicles in the region. Magna currently produces vehicles for Xpeng and GAC at a factory in Austria.

Facing a fierce electric vehicle price war in the world's largest automotive market, China, domestic automakers are rapidly expanding to seek higher sales and profits abroad.

At the Beijing Auto Show in April, Dongfeng stated its goal to achieve global sales of 4 million vehicles by 2030, with over 40% of those expected to come from overseas markets.

In early May, Stellantis announced an agreement with its Chinese partner Leapmotor to co-produce automobiles in Spain. These two manufacturers formed a joint venture in 2023, with Stellantis holding a 51% stake.

Rival Volkswagen also indicated it is considering sharing production capacity at its European factories with Chinese automakers.

The Rennes factory in France, built in 1960 to aid the industrialization of the remote Brittany region, produced over 400,000 vehicles annually on three assembly lines in the early 2000s.

However, it was restructured in the 2010s and today produces only one single model, the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV, on only one line.

My Anh