Leapmotor plans to export cars in Q3

Chinese NEV startup Leapmotor said it plans to export its vehicles from the third quarter, with target sales of 6,000-10,000 units overseas this year.

Its vehicles will be available in Europe, South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

The company reached an agreement with Italian automaker Stellantis in October to set up a joint venture that has exclusive rights for the export and sale, as well as manufacturing, of Leapmotor vehicles outside China.

Zhu Jiangming, founder and CEO of Leapmotor, said that the collaboration is progressing and it has established an international team in the past few months.

The company will adopt the same marketing approach in overseas markets as in China, with comprehensive service systems that include financial and insurance services. Although the initial setup of the sales network may take some time, Zhu said that once completed, it will grow quickly.

Moreover, given the collaborative background with Stellantis, Leapmotor can "rapidly acquire more and higher-quality channel resources, including distribution systems for components, service networks and the market", Zhu said. "We will be steps ahead, improving efficiency and costs in various aspects," he added.

Leapmotor plans to set up more than 200 sales outlets overseas this year.

The first export model will be the C10 SUV, which officially launched in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Saturday.

The model has seven pure electric and range-extended versions at starting prices from 128,800 yuan ($17,890). The model has secured more than 45,000 orders since presales in mid-January.

As Leapmotor's first global model built upon the Leap 3.0 technical architecture, the C10 features the Qualcomm 8295 chip, among other things.

It integrates the cockpit and driving functions of an audio digital signal processor, parking assistance and a 360-degree surround view, a first in the industry. The model also incorporates components such as laser radar and the Nvidia Orin-X chip.

The company also launched upgraded versions of its C11 SUV, C01 sedan and T03 small EV on Saturday.