Stellantis backing gives Leapmotor advantage over Chinese EV peers, says MD

In an era which is seeing numerous Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers entering the UK market for the first time, Leapmotor feels it is already one step ahead of its peers.

The reason for this? Being part of the Stellantis Group.

Leapmotor International has been formed through a 51:49 joint venture led by Stellantis, and this aims to accelerate the Chinese manufacturer’s sales outside Greater China by making the most out of Stellantis’s global resources and commercial know-how.

In the UK this means that instead of having to start from scratch, the brand, which officially launches on March 1 with two models – the T03 city car and C10 D-SUV –  has access to an established nationwide dealer group, brand recognition through this, established processes and back-office functions.

Leapmotor UK will have a small, dedicated team and will then use Stellantis Group functions, including being integrated into its wider fleet team.

But perhaps the major differentiator to other Chinese EV brands is that Leapmotor is part of Stellantis’s parts network, managed by Distrigo, which gives it next-day availability for 95% of parts, says Damien Dally, managing director of Leapmotor UK.

“If and when we need parts, we can get them super, super fast,” he adds. “That really is a key differentiator for us because it’s one thing to manufacture cars on the other side of the world, it’s a whole different ball game getting parts.

“It’s probably an unsexy thing, but sometimes the unsexist things are the most important things in life and parts availability is probably the one absolutely stand-out thing because it can be a problem.

“It’s a real USP, and we have to be bold enough to say no other Chinese brand can offer that. I’m not saying they will never be able to offer it, but right here, right now, no-one else can.

“Lack of parts means cars off-road, which means disappointed customers, higher costs and certainly for a new entrant it will deteriorate brand equity and faith in that brand very, very quickly.”

Dally says other key selling points of the brand are value - the T03 has an on-the-road price of £15,995 and a WLTP range of 165 miles; and the C10 D-SUV has a range of up to 261 miles and is priced at £36,500 – high standard specification and technology.

Launch models will bookend future range

The launch models will be the smallest and largest vehicles respectively in Leapmotor’s range, with three more models being launched before the end of 2027.

“The output is that we’re making cutting-edge technology available at a really accessible price,” says Dally.

“We’re focusing on delivering customer value. We offer knock-out prices, but that is not the key thing here. It’s the combination of the technology and the incredibly high specification that you get for the price.

“Our mission statement, let’s be really clear, is not to be A value EV brand, but to be THE best value EV brand, and that is not only about the price, but also the technology and equipment in our vehicles.

“We’re offering our cars in only one specification, which is super high, and this will show buyers that you don’t need to compromise; you can have a quality, well-equipped car at a value price.”

Around 400 fleet customers were given their first taste of the Leapmotor cars at a two-day Stellantis Group arrive-and-drive event at Millbrook Proving Ground in September last year.

“They were actually the most driven vehicles there,” says Dally. “The novelty of them being new was a factor in that, don’t get me wrong, but we also had a follow up meeting with 45 of the largest leasing companies towards the end of last year and the feedback was really positive.”

Dally says the fleet sector forms an important part of Leapmotor’s future customer base, and expects the C10 to be popular as “it is a D-SUV which is priced strategically as a C-SUV”.

“When we got the fleet companies together, they were quite interested in T03 as well,” he adds. “I was really encouraged, because I thought that would be mainly retail – and it probably will be – but the interest from fleet was stronger than we anticipated.”

Salary sacrifice appeal

Aside from true fleet, Dally expects the models to be popular with salary sacrifice customers, while it will also look at supplying the Motability market.

“One thing we won’t be doing is any short-cycle stuff,” he adds. “When you’re an established brand and you’ve been in a market for 50 years, you can do anything and it’s not going to damage the brand in any way.

“We’ve been working with all the residual value setters because RV management is critical and we’ve got strong RVs – particularly on the C10 – and we want to protect those.

“Also, we have access to Stellantis’s Spoticar used car management scheme so we can keep used cars within our dealer network to maximise our RVs.”

The dealer network will also give customers peace of mind, says Dally. Leapmotor currently has 44 dealers in the UK - all located in existing Stellantis brand sites – with franchises run by major dealer groups such as Arnold Clark, Greenhous, Snows and Robins & Day.

It expects this to increase to 60 by the end of June, and more than 80 by the end of the year.

This presence on Stellantis sites will add instant credibility to Leapmotor in the UK, as well as trust, says Dally.

“Many of these new Chinese brands are unknown to the consumers, but of course, everyone in the UK knows Vauxhall,” he adds. “Everyone knows Peugeot. Everyone knows Citroen. And in some cases, our dealers have been selling cars for three generations, which adds to the product awareness.”

Dally says all these factors combine to fuel excitement within Stellantis about the future possibilities for the brand.

“The opportunity to actually launch a new brand is an amazing thing to do in one’s career,” he adds.

“We’ve got the benefit of being a start-up with a start-up mentality, but backed by the world’s fourth largest automaker.

“The speed of response and the ability to move at this pace is something I’ve never experienced before.

“The journey starts now, and I’m really excited to be on it.”