Leapmotor grows successfully in Europe with e-cars and announces hybrid models

Stellantis is one of the largest automotive groups worldwide, but it suffers from the problem that its brands such as Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat, Lancia, or Opel have a largely overlapping model portfolio. While the group's brands Jeep, Ram, or Dodge sell successfully in North America, Stellantis is significantly behind many competitors in China. This is set to change with Leapmotor. The brand was founded just a decade ago and has since been rapidly expanding not only in the world's largest automotive market.

Stellantis has the compact electric cars Leapmotor T03 (Test) and the two crossover models Leapmotor B10 and C10 (Test) in its European program. The entry-level model T03 makes a serious bid for similarly positioned models like the Dacia Spring or BYD Seagull with a price of under 19,000 Euros and is significantly cheaper than an Opel e-Corsa (Test), Fiat Panda elettrica (Test), or Citroën ë-C3 (Test). The 4.73-meter-long BEV SUV C10 competes with established electric cars in the D-segment such as the Tesla Model Y (Test) or the Skoda Kodiaq.

Young brand with steep growth

Stellantis is positioning the models of the Chinese start-up with a strong emphasis on young and tech-savvy customers. In reality, however, Leapmotor reaches significantly larger customer groups in particularly price-sensitive markets in Southeast Asia, India, or South America and is also successful in Germany.

Leapmotor is a ten-year success story. After the start-up had also negotiated with Volkswagen, it came under Stellantis and has since increased its sales figures at a breathtaking pace. While in 2019 it was just over 1000 vehicles sold, it has been powerfully upward since 2022 after the Covid crisis. In 2024, nearly 300,000 cars were produced, and the target for 2025 was already 600,000 units. This planned figure was only narrowly missed with 596,555 vehicles – more than a doubling within just one year.

Customer benefits Service and parts availability

Unlike many European competitors, Leapmotor follows the Chinese path and strives to keep maximum value creation in-house. Currently, it is around 60 percent – and rising. At Stellantis, the youngest brand in the group particularly benefits from the tightly knit dealer network. This allows Leapmotor, unlike most other Chinese competitors, to offer its customers advantages in parts supply and service.

A big step forward is likely the 4.52-meter-long Leapmotor B10, a compact mid-size SUV, which starts at 29,900 Euros with electric drive. For this, you get solid equipment, 160 kW, and with the 56 kWh battery pack, a range of 360 kilometers. More equipment, battery power, and range are available in the Pro-Max version. Then it's 67 kWh and 434 kilometers for 33,600 Euros. Currently, only the Skoda Elroq (Test) can almost keep up with this.

In addition to the Leapmotor B01 (sedan) and the B05 (hatchback), given the continued interest in SUVs, the 4.20-meter-long electric crossover B03x, known as A10 in China, is likely to find its buyers. Furthermore, the C10 is not the only one that can offer long-distance capabilities with a range extender: in 2026, the B10, running on the LEAP 3.5 platform, will also receive a range extender as a REEV. Initially only announced is the Leapmotor D19, a top-tier SUV model for the e-segment.

(mack)