China's Leapmotor targets annual sales of more than 4 million units in a decade

HANGZHOU, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Chinese electrical conveyance (EV) shaper Leapmotor expects to merchantability much than 4 cardinal vehicles a twelvemonth wrong the adjacent decade, CEO Zhu Jiangming ​said connected Monday.

Leapmotor aims to merchantability 1 cardinal cars successful 2026, supported by ‌a planetary enlargement strategy successful concern with Stellantis, Zhu said successful Hangzhou, wherever the institution is based. He ‌also said the institution would motorboat a premium conveyance lineup priced supra 250,000 yuan ($34,300).

The 10-year-old automaker has had occurrence successful China's brutal automotive sector, with accelerated maturation successful income measurement and betterment successful profitability passim 2025. With its best-selling C10 electrical SUV priced from 142,800 yuan, Leapmotor has ⁠also been eroding the marketplace ‌share of manufacture person BYD successful presumption of EVs priced nether $25,000.

Leapmotor's home income astir doubled during the archetypal 11 months of 2025, reaching 482,447 ‍pure electrical and plug-in hybrid vehicles, according to information from the China Passenger Car Association. In contrast, BYD's home income declined 5.1% to 3.1 cardinal units during the aforesaid period.

Zhu, an physics technologist and ​co-founder of surveillance instrumentality shaper Dahua Technology, believes in-house improvement and manufacturing of cardinal ‌technologies is captious to Leapmotor's outgo competitiveness.

He said 65% of the parts by worth successful his cars were developed by Leapmotor, giving it a 10% outgo vantage implicit its peers.

Separately, Leapmotor connected Monday said it would contented 74.8 cardinal shares to state-owned automaker FAW astatine 50.03 yuan a share. The 2 firms volition participate into a exertion concern to make ⁠and marque cars for FAW from 2026.

Neither FAW nor ​Stellantis, which invested successful Leapmotor successful 2023, intends to ​seek power of Leapmotor, said Chief Financial Officer Li Tengfei. Stellantis controls a associated task that sells and produces cars for Leapmotor overseas.

"Coupled with the ‍controlling shareholding by the ⁠founding members, a unchangeable equity triangle tin amended enactment Leapmotor's starring presumption successful the future," Li said.

The automaker volition commencement accumulation successful Spain successful 2026 with 40% of ⁠the parts by worth to beryllium procured locally arsenic required by section authorities, said Shu Chuncheng, Leapmotor's vice ‌president successful complaint of its proviso chain.

(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda ‌Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Thomas Derpinghaus)