Well, you know what they say: keep your friends close and your competitors closer! And it seems like that’s exactly what Volkswagen has been doing. The grapevine is buzzing with rumors that VW is cozying up to Leapmotor, a Chinese up-and-comer in the electric vehicle game. Why, you ask? Well, word has it that they’re considering joining forces to soup up the Jetta brand, according to the Chinese media.
There’s even talk that VW and its buddy, the state-run FAW Group, might throw some money Leapmotor’s way to get their hands on a spanking new EV tech platform. This juicy tidbit comes straight from Cailianshe, a Chinese financial news outlet with its ear to the ground.
Of course, when asked about these whispers, both VW China and Leapmotor played it cool, keeping their lips sealed. We can’t say we didn’t try – Reuters wasn’t able to get a peep out of either party either!
But Leapmotor’s not playing completely coy. On Monday, they whipped the covers off a brand-new, homegrown vehicle platform. Their CEO’s been dropping hints left and right that they’re eager to share the love and license it out to other car makers.
The big cheese at Leapmotor, Zhu Jiangming, even let slip that they’re already in serious chit-chat with a couple of foreign companies. One of these mystery partners is a fresh face in the EV crowd, keen to roll out some Leapmotor-inspired models overseas.
Interestingly, this gossip seemed to give Leapmotor’s shares a kick in the pants, pushing them up by a solid 5% in the Hong Kong market. That’s after they started the day in the doldrums!
Now here’s the kicker – just last week, VW announced it was teaming up with another Chinese startup, XPeng, to build new EVs. They’re using XPeng’s ‘Edward’ platform, which also serves as the backbone for the hot-off-the-press G9 model.
So, are we seeing a pattern here, folks? Stay tuned to see how this high-octane drama unfolds!