Leapmotor’s first T03 small electric vehicles rolled out of Stellantis’ assembly plant in Poland last week and were on track for mass production in September, according to Reuters.
Leapmotor International, a joint venture between Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Leapmotor and Europe’s second largest automaker by revenue, Stellantis NV (NYSE: STLA), has begun production of electric vehicles at the Tychy factory of Stellantis in Poland, Reuters reported today.
Jefferies analysts said in a report on Sunday that Leapmotor management told an analyst call that the first small T03 EVs rolled off the assembly line at Stellantis’ factory in Poland last week and were on track for mass production in September, according to Reuters .
The joint venture plans to start production of its second model, the Leapmotor A12 SUV (sport utility vehicle), at Stellantis’ Polish plant from the first quarter of 2025, Jefferies said. Leapmotor currently does not have an A12 model in its home market of China.
Leapmotor has also started preparing for local production of components, these analysts said, according to Reuters.
Production costs at the Polish plant are about 400 to 500 euros per vehicle, about the same as at Leapmotor’s Chinese production base, while those at the Italian plant are about 1,000 euros, Jefferies said.
Leapmotor plans to build the C10 SUV in China and initially export it to Europe because the model has a higher price tag, these analysts said.
On October 26, 2023, Leapmotor said Stellantis would invest 1.5 billion euros in it for a stake of around 20 percent, making it the largest outside shareholder in the EV maker.
On May 14, Leapmotor announced the formation of Leapmotor International, which would begin selling vehicles in Europe in September. Stellantis leads the joint venture with a 51 percent stake, while Leapmotor holds another 49 percent.
Leapmotor International is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and led by Xin Tianshu, vice president of Stellantis China, who serves as CEO of the joint venture.
Xin is leading the joint venture’s management team as it prepares for the European launch of the Leapmotor T03 and Leapmotor C10 models, Leapmotor said last month.
Leapmotor International would initially cover markets including Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Portugal and plans to expand its European sales network to 200 by the end of the year, the company said.
On March 22, Reuters reported that production of the Leapmotor T03 would begin as early as the second quarter of this year, using the so-called semi-knocked down (SKD) technique, which converts partially assembled kits into completed vehicles.
The T03 is a compact electric vehicle (BEV) and is Leapmotor’s least expensive model currently on sale.
On March 2, Leapmotor launched the T03 2024 in China, with three versions with starting prices of RMB 49,900 ($6,880), RMB 59,900 and RMB 69,900 respectively. Their CLTC range is 200 kilometers, 310 kilometers and 403 kilometers respectively.
The T03 sold 35,454 vehicles in 2023, accounting for 24.6 percent of Leapmotor’s annual sales of 144,155 units, according to data collected by CnEVPost.
Leapmotor’s other models are the more expensive C10, C11 and C01, and these C-series models are offered in both BEV and Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) versions.
($1 = 0.9347 euros, $1 = 7.2560 RMB)
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