HANGZHOU, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Leapmotor expects annual sales to exceed 4 million vehicles in the next decade, CEO Zhu Jiangming said on Monday.
Leapmotor aims to sell 1 million vehicles by 2026, supported by a global expansion strategy in partnership with Stellantis, Zhu said in Hangzhou, where the company is headquartered. He also said the company would launch a line of high-end cars priced at more than 250,000 yuan ($34,300).
The 10-year-old automaker has found success in China’s cutthroat auto industry, with sales growing rapidly and profitability improving through 2025. With its best-selling C10 electric SUV (priced from RMB 142,800), Leapmotor has also chipped away at industry leader BYD’s market share in electric vehicles under $25,000.
Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that in the first 11 months of 2025, domestic sales of Leapmotor have almost doubled to 482,447 pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. In comparison, BYD’s domestic sales fell 5.1% to 3.1 million vehicles during the same period.
Zhu, an electronics engineer and co-founder of monitoring equipment manufacturer Dahua Technology, believes in-house development and manufacturing of key technologies is crucial to Leapmotor’s cost competitiveness.
He said that in terms of value, 65% of the parts in his car were developed by Leapmotor, which gave Leapmotor a 10% cost advantage over its peers.
Separately, Leapmotor said on Monday it would issue 74.8 million shares to state-owned automaker FAW at a price of 50.03 yuan per share. The two companies will establish a technology partnership to develop and manufacture vehicles for FAW starting in 2026.
Chief Financial Officer Li Tengfei said that neither FAW nor Stellantis, which invested in Leapmotor in 2023, have any intention of seeking control of Leapmotor. Stellantis controls a joint venture to sell and produce vehicles overseas for Leapmotor.
“Coupled with the founding members’ holdings, a stable equity triangle can better support Leapmotor’s future leading position,” Li said.
Shu Chuncheng, Leapmotor’s vice president in charge of supply chain, said the automaker will start production in Spain in 2026, and in compliance with local government requirements, 40% of parts will be purchased locally.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Thomas Derpinghaus)
