China’s Leapmotor targets annual sales of more than 4 million units in a decade
HANGZHOU, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Leapmotor expects to sell more than 4 million vehicles a year over the next decade, CEO Zhu Jiangming said on Monday.
Speaking in the company’s headquarters, Hangzhou, Zhu said Leapmotor aims to sell 1 million cars in 2026, supported by its global expansion strategy in partnership with Stellantis. He also said that the company will launch a premium line of vehicles priced above 250,000 yuan ($34,300).
The 10-year-old automaker has found success in China’s cutthroat auto industry with rapid growth in sales volume and improvement in profitability through 2025. With its best-selling C10 electric SUV starting at 142,800 yuan, Leapmotor has also eroded the market share of industry leader BYD in terms of electric vehicles under $25,000.
According to data from the China Passenger Vehicle Association, Leapmotor’s domestic sales almost doubled in the first 11 months of 2025, reaching 482,447 pure electric and rechargeable hybrid vehicles. On the other hand, BYD’s domestic sales decreased by 5.1% to 3.1 million units in the same period.
Zhu, an electronics engineer and co-founder of surveillance equipment manufacturer Dahua Technology, believes that developing and manufacturing core technologies in-house is critical to Leapmotor’s cost competitiveness.
He said that 65% of the parts in his cars, in terms of value, were developed by Leapmotor, which provided a 10% cost advantage over his peers.
Separately, Leapmotor said on Monday it would issue 74.8 million shares to state-owned automaker FAW at 50.03 yuan per share. The two companies will enter into a technology partnership to develop and produce cars for FAW from 2026.
Chief Financial Officer Li Tengfei said that neither FAW nor Stellantis, which invested in Leapmotor in 2023, intends to take control of Leapmotor. Stellantis controls a joint venture that sells and manufactures cars for Leapmotor abroad.
“Combined with the controlling shares of the founding members, a stable equity triangle can better support Leapmotor’s leading position in the future,” Li said.
Shu Chuncheng, Leapmotor’s vice president of supply chain, said the automaker will start production in Spain in 2026, with 40% of the parts by value to be sourced locally, as required by local authorities.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Thomas Derpinghaus)
