The first Leapmotor T03 small electric cars rolled off the Stellantis assembly plant in Poland last week, with mass production scheduled for September, Reuters reported.
Leapmotor International, a joint venture between Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Leapmotor and Europe’s second-largest automaker by sales, Stellantis NV (NYSE: STLA ), has started electric car production at the Stellantis plant in Tychy, Poland, Reuters reported today.
Jefferies analysts said in a report on Sunday that Leapmotor executives told an analyst that its first T03 small electric cars rolled off the assembly line at the Stellantis plant in Poland last week and that series production is scheduled for September, according to Reuters.
The joint venture plans to start production of its second model, the Leapmotor A12 SUV (sports utility vehicle), at the Stellantis plant in Poland from the first quarter of 2025, Jefferies said. Leapmotor currently does not have the A12 in its home market of China.
Leapmotor has also begun preparations for localized component manufacturing, the analysts said, according to Reuters.
Production costs at the Polish plant are about 400 euros ($428) to 500 euros per vehicle, about the same as at Leapmotor’s Chinese production base, while costs at the Italian factory are about 1,000 euros, Jefferies said.
Leapmotor plans to build the C10 SUV in China and initially export it to Europe because the model is priced higher, these analysts said.
On October 26, 2023, Leapmotor said Stellantis would invest 1.5 billion euros in it for a roughly 20 percent stake, making it the EV maker’s largest outside shareholder.
On May 14, Leapmotor announced the formation of Leapmotor International, which will begin selling vehicles in Europe in September. Stellantis leads the joint venture with a 51 percent stake, with Leapmotor holding the other 49 percent.
Leapmotor International is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is led by Xin Tianshu, Vice President of Stellantis China, who serves as the CEO of the joint venture.
Xin is leading the joint venture’s management team in preparation for the European launch of the Leapmotor T03 and Leapmotor C10, Leapmotor said last month.
Leapmotor International would initially cover markets including Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Portugal and plans to expand its European sales network to 200 by the end of the year, according to the company.
On March 22, Reuters reported that production of the Leapmotor T03 would begin as early as the second quarter of this year, using the so-called semi-knocked down (SKD) technique, which involves turning partially assembled kits into finished vehicles.
The T03 is a compact battery electric vehicle (BEV) and is the cheapest of the Leapmotor models currently on sale.
On March 2, Leapmotor launched the 2024 T03 in China, offering three versions with starting prices of RMB 49,900 ($6,880), RMB 59,900, and RMB 69,900. Their CLTC ranges are 200 kilometers, 310 kilometers and 403 kilometers.
The T03 sold 35,454 cars in 2023, accounting for 24.6 percent of Leapmotor’s annual sales of 144,155 units, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Other Leapmotor models are the more expensive C10, C11 and C01, and these C-series models are offered in both BEV and Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) versions.
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