The Leapmotor T03 and C10 are ready to arrive in Europe. The Stellantis Group and the Chinese company have signed a new joint venture paving the way for their debut, which includes the UK.
The new company will start operating in Europe by September 2024 and before the end of the year 200 sales outlets will be opened. From the fourth quarter of the same year, the company will also sell the two models in India, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
The new joint venture
Leapmotor International B.V. was created by the two companies as a joint venture in 51/49 shares led by the Stellantis Group. At the head of the new team will be Tianshu Xin, former manager of Stellantis China, who, according to a joint statement, is already at work preparing the launch of the two models.
Leapmotor's Europe roadmap
In October 2023, the two companies announced an investment by Stellantis of around €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) in Leapmotor, for the acquisition of around 21 per cent of the company's shares, which was ranked among the top 3 Chinese electric vehicle start-ups in 2023.
The establishment of Leapmotor International was part of the original agreements, with exclusive rights for Stellantis to export and sell the cars, as well as manufacture Leapmotor-branded products outside its home country.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, said:
"The creation of Leapmotor International is a big step forward to help address the urgent global warming problem through state-of-the-art BEV models that can compete with Chinese brands in key markets around the world."
"Leveraging our existing global presence, we will soon be able to offer our customers competitively priced and technologically advanced electric vehicles capable of exceeding expectations. With Tianshu Xin's leadership, Leapmotor International has developed an ambitious business and industry strategy with which to rapidly strengthen distribution channels and support Leapmotor's growth, creating value for both partners involved."
Zhu Jiangming, Founder, President and CEO of Leapmotor, added:
"The partnership between Leapmotor and Stellantis demonstrates a high level of efficiency and quality, and ushers in a new chapter in the global integration process of China's smart electric vehicle industry."
"By utilising Leapmotor's innovative technologies and cutting-edge products, with Stellantis' support in overseas distribution, services and marketing, we aim to offer customers around the world an exceptional driving experience and on-board comfort. We believe that this partnership will give Leapmotor further impetus to become a globally recognised manufacturer of intelligent electric vehicles."
About T03 and C10
As we mentioned, the first two Leapmotor models to arrive in Europe will be the T03 and the C10.
The Leapmotor T03 is an electric city car 3.62 metres long, 1.65 metres wide and 1.57 metres high, with a boot capacity of 210 litres. The zero-emission powertrain consists of a front engine with 109 PS and 158 Nm, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack with a capacity of 41.3 kWh for a declared range (WLTP cycle) of 165 miles and a declared WLTP consumption of 15.7 kWh/100 km (3.95 mi/kWh).
Leapmotor T03
The Leapmotor C10, on the other hand, is a large D-segment crossover based on the company's in-house developed global LEAP3.0 cell-to-chassis (CTC) architecture. With a declared range (WLTP cycle) of 261 miles, it recently won the 2024 Gold Award at the French Design Awards (FDA).
Leapmotor C10
More about Leapmotor:
Gallery: Leapmotor lands in Europe
