Leapmotor International will 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.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Leapmotor International, a joint venture between Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Leapmotor and Europe's second-largest automaker by sales, Stellantis NV, was formally launched today, setting the stage for Leapmotor vehicles to become available in global markets.
The two automakers announced the formation of Leapmotor International at a joint press event today and said the joint venture will begin selling vehicles in Europe starting in September.
Stellantis leads the joint venture with a 51 percent stake and Leapmotor holds the other 49 percent.
Leapmotor International is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is headed by Xin Tianshu, vice president of Stellantis China, who serves as CEO of the joint venture.
The Xin-led JV management team is currently preparing for the European launch of the Leapmotor T03 and Leapmotor C10 models, Leapmotor said.
Leapmotor International will 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.
Beginning in the fourth quarter, Leapmotor International will expand into South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.
(Image credit: Leapmotor)
With the investment from Stellantis, Leapmotor's business model has been updated into three main components, according to Zhu Jiangming, founder, chairman and CEO of the Chinese EV maker.
In China, Leapmotor will utilize its in-house R&D capabilities to launch two to three products per year for the next three years.
Overseas, Leapmotor will utilize its own products and Stellantis' more than 10,000 dealers worldwide to tap the global market.
In addition, Leapmotor's parts business is gaining scale and hopes to sell to other manufacturers next.
On October 26, 2023, Leapmotor said Stellantis would invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in it for a roughly 20 percent stake, making it the largest outside shareholder in the EV maker.
The two companies plan to form Leapmotor International, which would leverage Stellantis' global resources to accelerate and expand sales of Leapmotor's products globally, Leapmotor said in an announcement at the time.
The joint venture will have the exclusive right to export and sell to all markets worldwide except Greater China, as well as the exclusive right to manufacture Leapmotor products locally.
On March 6, Leapmotor said on Weibo hat Leapmotor International had established an executive team and shared several images of the team.
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