There's a new Chinese electric car brand that's coming to Britain next year - and one of its first models is a dinky city runaround.
EV start-up Leapmotor will begin selling cars in nine European countries from September, having completed a joint venture with Vauxhall's parent company. It will then enter the UK market in March 2025.
Leapmotor will offer two battery models from launch - the C10 SUV and the diminutive T03, which could become Britain's cheapest EV.
It will also become the latest example of a Chinese EV brand plotting to manufacture cars in Europe (see which other car makers from China are looking to do the same in the list at the bottom of the page).
Cheap Chinese: Leapmotor International is the next new electric car brand from the Far East looking to break the European market
European car giant Stellantis this week said it had formed a partnership with the Chinese company that will see it emerge into markets in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Netherlands Romania, Spain and Portugal, Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares said at a news event in Hangzhou.
And the brand will be coming to the UK six months later as part of the new deal, according to Autocar.
The two companies announced a joint venture called Leapmotor International to manufacture and sell Leapmotor's EVs outside of China.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Previous
- 1
- Next
- Electric cars will be CHEAPER to make than petrols by 2027 -... Minis new electric Cooper SE tested: Can BMW harness the... UK woos Chinese car giant Chery to build plant despite... As China's BYD floods Europe with cheap electric cars, can...
Share this article
Share
HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP
- How to save money on car insurance: Ten top tips to cut the cost in just a few minutes
It is 51 per cent owned by Stellantis and 49 per cent owned by Leapmotor.
In October last year, Stellantis invested £1.5billion to buy a 21 per cent stake in Leapmotor and announced a strategic partnership.
The new company now intends to have 200 dealerships across Europe by the end of 2024.
After breaking into the European car market, Leapmotor will also launch inSouth America, Middle East and Africa, as well as India and the Asia Pacific from the end of this year, Tavares said.
There was no official announcement on where the EVs will be produced, but that the location must have the 'capacity available to support the sales' and meet quality criteria and cost competitiveness.
Among the various reports is that the smaller of the two cars - the T03 - could be made at Stellantis'Tychy factory in Poland, which is where the Fiat 500e and 600e are produced, as well as other Stellantis EVs including the Jeep Avenger and the forthcoming Alfa Romeo Junior.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis (left) and Zhu Jiangming, founder and CEO of Leapmotor, confirmed the joint venture at a press conference in Hangzhou on Tuesday that will see Leapmotor EVs arrive in Europe from this year - and the UK from March 2025
The T3 is currently built at Leapmotor's factory in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province of China. However, production for the European market - including the UK - could shift to Poland as part of its new deal with Stellantis
The cheap Leapmotor EVs you coming to UK roads
Measuring in at just 3.62 metres long, the T03 is around the same length as the Fiat 500 and will offer a range in the region of 165 miles and a conservative 100bhp.
In China, it is currently priced from 65.800 Yuan, which is the equivalent of £7,100. However, this is inclusive of domestic Government subsidies placed on homemade EVs in China.
Prices would be significantly higher, but production at Stellantis' Polish car factory would help mitigate any dramatic premium.
In fact, there's a very good chance that the Leapmotor T03 could undercut Dacia's £14,995 Spring EVto become Britain's least expensive electric car (not including the £7,695 Citroen Ami quadricycle).
The second model - the C10 - currently costs around £17,000 in China, though is likely to continue to be built in the country and therefore subject to steep import charges that will make it considerably more expensive when it hits UK roads.
That said, the price should be comparable to MG's popular 4 EV.
And Leapmotor International plans to introduce one new model annually over the next three years, Tavares said.
'We expect to bring a significant boost to the international sales of these models,' he added.
Measuring in at just 3.62 metres long, the T03 is around the same length as the Fiat 500. If produced in Europe, it could become the UK's cheapest EV when it arrives next year, undercutting the £14,995 Dacia Spring
The compact EV will offer a range in the region of 165 miles and a conservative 100bhp
The second of two Leapmotor EVs arriving in the UK next year is the C10 - a compact SUV with five seats that could go head-to-head with the MG4
Under the ZEV mandate rules, major car makers need to sell a 22% share of EVs in 2024 - and an increasing share annually thereafter. Failure to meet these targets will result in hefty fines per vehicle below the threshold. The arrival of Leapmotor should help Stellantis hit targets
Its arrival in the UK will also help Stellantis avoid penalties imposed by the new Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate introduced this year.
All major car makers must achieve an EV sales mix of 22 per cent this year, rising to 28 per cent in 2025.
By the end of the decade, EV's need to make up 80 per cent of all sales before petrol and diesel models are culled entirely in 2035.
Manufacturers that fail to comply with the targets face fines of £15,000 for every non-ZEV car and £18,000 per non-ZEV van.
Any excess non-ZEV sales can be covered by purchasing allowances from other manufacturers, using allowances from past or future trading periods during the initial years of the policy, or offsetting with credits.
Leapmotor International plans to introduce one new model annually over the next three years
The C10 currently costs around £17,000 in China, though is likely to continue to be built in the country and therefore subject to steep import charges that will make it considerable more expensive when it hits UK roads
Visitors look at a cutaway of a Leapmotor vehicle at the company showroom in Hangzhou
A Leapmotor C10 charging outside a showroom in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province
Leapmotor CEO, Zhu Jiangming, said that the alliance with Stellantis would help his company access an extensive overseas dealership and distribution system, as well as factories around the world.
'Political and regional uncertainties in the future are likely to make it inevitable for Chinese new energy vehicle brands to manufacture globally,' Zhu said.
His comments come as the Biden administration announced plans to slap new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment, a move that´s likely to increase friction between the world´s two largest economies.
On Wednesday,US President Joe Biden announced fresh 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars.
The Chinese brands planning to build EVs in Europe
Some Chinese car makers are looking to set up manufacturing and assembly plants in Europe as they aim to ramp up sales of lower-cost cars in the region to rival their European competitors amid slowing demand at home.
European imports of Chinese-made EVs have soared in recent years, raising concerns among domestic EV producers that they could suffer significant losses from a wave of cheap Chinese electric vehicles.
The EU has launched an anti-subsidy probe into EV imports from China, which is the world's largest car market.
Here are details of plans by Chinese EV makers to invest in Europe:
CHERY AUTO
Chery Auto, China's largest automaker by export volume, announced on 16 April that it has signed a joint venture with Spain's EV Motors to open its first European manufacturing site in Catalonia.
Production is set to start later this year, with junior partner Chery producing its Omoda vehicles at the plant. Majority stakeholder EV Motors will start producing its own vehicles in the fourth quarter, the Spanish company said.
The carmaker is also considering building a car factory in Britain this decade, the Financial Times has reported.
BYD
The world's largest EV maker BYD announced in late 2023 that it will build its first European electric vehicle production base in Hungary. The plant will produce EVs and plug-in hybrids for the European market and is set to start operating in three years, the company said in January.
The biggest Chinese rival to Tesla has been present in the country since 2016, when it established an electric bus assembling unit in the city of Komarom in northwest Hungary.
BYD will also consider building a second assembly plant in Europe in 2025, its European managing director Michael Shu said at the FT's Future of the Car conference on Thursday.
LEAPMOTOR
China's Leapmotor partnered with Stellantis last year, and Reuters reported it will start producing small EVs at Stellantis' Tychy plant in Poland after receiving a green light from the Chinese government for a joint venture.
Stellantis sees the first delivery of cars built with Leapmotor by the year-end, CEO Carlos Tavares told shareholders in April.
SAIC MOTOR
State-owned SAIC, China's second-largest auto exporter with its MG-branded cars, is looking for a site in Europe to set up an EV production plant.
SAIC already has a European parts centre for its MG Motors unit in Amsterdam and plans to open a second facility in France to meet the country's growing demand for its vehicles, the company said in March.
XPENG
Chinese EV maker XPeng's co-president Brian Gu said at the Beijing autoshow that an ongoing European probe into Chinese-made EVs and regulatory changes could steer the firm to invest in plants or suppliers abroad, as the spectre of higher tariffs looms.
GEELY
In 2022, a Polish state-led venture to produce the country's first electric car, known as Izera, signed a licence agreement with China's Geely Holding to build the country's first EV plant.
The plan, approved by Poland's previous administration, was put on hold as the new government is finalising a revision of the spending plan for Brussels, but is to be decided by the summer, a senior European Union official told Reuters.
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/money/electriccars/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
