Leapmotor wants to be among top three Chinese EV brands “everywhere”

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) upstart Leapmotor has bold plans for its global model rollout and says it hopes to be jostling with the likes of BYD and MG globally soon, but only in the realm of EVs.

Leapmotor was only founded in 2015, and it wasn’t until 2019 that it began producing its first vehicles. It exclusively offers EVs and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), but its efforts to sell vehicles in markets like Europe and Australia are operated by a joint-venture subsidiary known as Leapmotor International.

Automotive conglomerate Stellantis, which owns brands like Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat, holds a 51 per cent controlling stake in Leapmotor International – presenting a significant opportunity for the Chinese upstart to become the best-selling brand under the Stellantis umbrella, particularly in Australia.

But when Leapmotor International CEO Tianshu Xin was asked about that potential, he said that “it doesn’t have to be best-selling among the Stellantis family.”

“Our vision is to be the top three everywhere, in every market we play, among Chinese players – EV players because we only do the new energy vehicles. Leapmotor don’t do internal combustion [vehicles],” he said.

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Becoming a top-three Chinese EV brand in a market like Australia would put Leapmotor up there with BYD and MG. In the first quarter of 2025, MG led the way with 1950 EV sales, while BYD placed a close second with 1848.

The third most popular EV brand born in China was Zeekr, with 211 sales, though the Chinese-owned Volvo and Polestar brands were ahead of it with 718 and 389 EV sales respectively. Chinese-built Teslas were still on top of all these brands by a considerable margin, however.

Leapmotor, meanwhile, only managed 138 sales in the same period, though it’s far too early for that to be a representative figure. It also only has one model on sale in Australia so far, the C10 mid-size SUV.

As far as becoming the best-selling Stellantis brand in Australia is concerned, Leapmotor doesn’t have a particularly high hurdle to clear.

The top-selling Stellantis brand locally so far in 2025 is Ram, with 768 sales recorded in the first quarter. Jeep is next with 529, then Peugeot with 373.

Even so, Mr Xin says there’s a focus on competition outside of the Stellantis group, and Leapmotor has a significant role in its global efforts.

He said Stellantis is able to provide an established network through which Leapmotor can expand and, in return, Leapmotor can serve as a “weapon” for Stellantis to tackle the numerous other EV brands on sale globally.

“For the Stellantis group family to compete with those new players from China, one of the best ways is to use Leapmotor to compete with them,” Mr Xin said.

“So we consider Leapmotor an additional weapon for [the] Stellantis family to compete with those new players. So [EVs are] the segment we’re focusing on, plus the energy transition one way or the other is going to happen.

“It’s not a question of if it’s going to happen, the question is when it’s going to happen. China is maybe at the moment a little bit ahead of the rest of the world, but the rest of the world is going to catch up one way or the other. It’s just a matter of time.”

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