Leapmotor founder and CEO Zhu Jiangming has recently been busy outlining the company’s future strategy and answering the public’s questions. Not only has he given more details about new cars for Europe, but he has also addressed how Leapmotor can produce cars so cheaply.
As part of Leapmotor’s globalization strategy, the company will launch the A series of cars. These will be positioned as A-class, A0-class, and even smaller models, which account for 60-70% of sales in Europe. Furthermore, Leapmotor International will launch at least one new model every year.
Leapmotor unveiled a new world model, the B10, at last month’s Paris Motor Show. Currently, the Stellantis-backed company has two models on sale in Europe: the C10 SUV and the T03 small hatchback. The models are available in 13 European countries, including France, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Currently, Leapmotor has 200 outlets in Europe, covering displays, sales, and after-sales services. The aim is to increase this to 500 outlets across Europe by the end of 2025.
Maserati, a subsidiary of Stellantis Group, and Leapmotor’s chassis R&D team will jointly tune Leapmotor products. They have successively conducted multiple rounds of verifications at the Balocco test site in Italy and the Yancheng test site of the China Automotive Center in China.
According to Zhu Jiangming, the main reason Leapmotor models can be so affordable is that they conduct their own research and technological innovation. This extends to the independent R&D and manufacturing of parts. Thereby, the company passes less money on to suppliers and can reduce costs through program optimizations. Ultimately, this means better prices for consumers. It should be noted that this is a very similar strategy to BYD, which is probably the most vertically integrated company in the industry.
“Whether it is a high-end or low-end model, the gross profit is the same, aiming to allow users to buy a better equipped and better quality product at a reasonable price,” said Zhu.
Leapmotor aims to become a major global player in the EV market. Last year, Stellantis bought a 20% stake in the Zhejiang-based company. Since then, Stellantis has set up Leapmotor International, in which it has the controlling 51% stake. Earlier this year, Leapmotor started producing cars at a Stellantis plant in Poland.
Sources: Autohome, Fast Technology
