Looking back many years from now, the 2023 Munich Motor Show will be a watershed moment.
More than 50 Chinese car companies went to sea in a group, went deep into the birthplace of automobiles, and showed off the muscles of Chinese automobiles. The German media alertly issued a reminder, "German cars will lose their dominant position! After this auto show, the market will be completely changed." ”
It was also in this year that China surpassed Japan to become the world's largest exporter for the first time. Riding the wave of China's automobile globalization, Leapmotor set sail to the sea.
"This is the starting point of Leap's globalization strategy. On the first day of the Munich Motor Show, Zhu Jiangming, chairman of Leapmotor, solemnly announced. In the next two years, Leapmotor will launch five models simultaneously in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.
On the same day, Leapmotor's first global model, the Leapmotor C10, was officially unveiled in the birthplace of automobiles. Half a year later, the Leapmotor C10 returned to China from Germany. On March 2, Leapmotor C10 was officially launched, with a total of 7 models, 4 pure electric models with a price range of 128,800-168,800 yuan, and 3 extended-range models with a price range of 135,800-165,800 yuan.
At one time, Chinese auto brands went overseas to win by price, and the technical content was not high, which was a representative of low price and low quality. After that, China became the only country in the world with all industrial categories, opening the world's factories and giving full play to the advantages of cost and scale, but still at the bottom of the "smile curve".
With the accumulation of technology and the growth of quantity, Chinese automobiles have finally ushered in a new stage of brand going overseas, technology going overseas, and products going overseas.
On the basis of insisting on 8 years of global self-development, Leapmotor selects the world's top suppliers, such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Continental, Valeo, Schaeffler Magna and other major manufacturers, and empowers itself with "a famous brand" to ensure the world's top quality.
On the track of intelligent electric vehicles, Chinese automobiles are competing for the right to speak, and Leapmotor has seized the opportunity to set a new benchmark for global product value.
Domestic roll price, overseas roll value
If you don't go to sea, you're out.
Chinese automobiles going out is becoming the only way for every enterprise committed to the future. "Automotive is a global industry, and R&D costs must be amortized at sufficient scale to be profitable. In Zhu Jiangming's view, the sales of 20 million vehicles in the domestic market seem to be a lot, but compared with the global sales of 80 million ~ 90 million, the potential of the latter is obviously broader.
China "must go out" and open up a second battlefield overseas. The destination has been determined, and Leapmotor will divide the road to globalization into two parts, one is technology output, and the other is product output. The C10 is not only the first car to go overseas, but also the first global strategic model under the brand's LEAP 3.0 technology architecture. In other words, the arrival of the new car demonstrates Leapmotor's leading position in technology.
In addition to the traditional advantages of Chinese brands such as large space and high configuration, Leapmotor used a large space to introduce the safety of the C10 at the press conference.
In terms of body design, Leapmotor C10 is designed in accordance with the Sino-European double five-star safety standards, and has also won the double certification of the top ten body and best structure of the China Automotive Center.
In order to shape the steel and iron bones, the high-performance materials containing aluminum alloy used in the Leapmotor C10 accounted for up to 73.6%, the hot stamping steel was as high as 21.8%, and the torsional rigidity of the body was as high as 42,500N.m/°, surpassing many top luxury brands.
In terms of passive safety, Leapmotor C10 adopts airbags with a larger protection area to bring users higher safety guarantees, the volume of the front side airbags is 10 liters larger than that of the same level, and the ultra-long through-body side air curtain is 20% larger than the industry standard.
In addition, Leapmotor C10 also uses a variety of active safety aspects such as AEB active braking, DMS fatigue monitoring system, DOW door opening warning system, RCW rear collision warning system, etc.
In terms of three-electric safety, Leapmotor realizes 24-hour real-time monitoring at the cell level through the electric drive AI cloud diagnosis + AI BMS big data intelligent battery management system + integrated thermal management system battery pack, ensuring battery safety, reaching 720min without thermal propagation, and the thermal runaway warning rate is 100%.
Recently, the China Electric Vehicle Fire Safety Index (C-EVFI) announced the evaluation results of the Leapmotor C10 model: after testing, the Leapmotor C10 was rated five-star in the four tests of safety tips, emergency rescue, fire protection, and data linkage, and won the "Five-Star Safety Evaluation Certificate of Electric Vehicle Fire Index".
It is worth mentioning that Leapmotor not only pays attention to the safety design of the whole vehicle, but also pays more attention to the health and safety of the occupants in the cabin. The C10 seat has obtained OEKO-TEX®STANDARD 100 certification, which is the same material as the baby pacifier, and has the characteristics of non-toxic skin-friendly, stain-resistant and wear-resistant.
Thanks to the use of a large number of high-cost top-level environmental protection materials and new processes, C10 effectively inhibits the volatilization of harmful substances in the car from the root, and the VOC inhibition level in the car far exceeds that of luxury cars, realizing the environmental protection cockpit of the mother and child level of 0 benzene and 0 aldehyde, and setting a new standard for the healthy cockpit of the same level.
From the inside out, the Leapmotor C10 demonstrates the highest standards of safety in China and has also been recognized by the industry. Not long ago, Leapmotor C10 won the 2023 China Top 10 Body Body, Best Body Structure Individual Award and other honors, and also has excellent performance in the same class in three-electric safety, pedestrian protection, maternal and infant environmental protection cockpit, and air quality management.
From 2023 to 2024, the price war has been fought in the Chinese market for a whole year, and there is a trend of intensification, and the price of Leap C10 can be called the king of volumes. The advantages in terms of safety are just a microcosm, between price and value, Leapmotor has rolled up its price in the Chinese market and its value in overseas markets, showing the new technological height of Chinese brands.
Global design opens the way, and Leap accelerates globalization
In 2024, "New Chinese Style" will become the first popular trend to go out of the circle. Embroidery, buckles, ink, jacquard, tie-dye, those clothes that combine traditional Chinese elements with current aesthetic trends are sought after by young people.
Behind the "new Chinese style" is actually the traditional culture accumulated over thousands of years, and contemporary life is drawing unexpected inspiration and energy from this huge "treasure trove", and the car is no exception.
China is the world, and in terms of automobile design, the unique oriental aesthetics have also been affirmed overseas. In February, Leapmotor C10 won the 2023 International CMF Design Award and the 2024 Gold Award of the French Design Award.
As a global design award, the FDA is known for its rigorous and fair judging criteria, and the jury selects the winning works based on multiple dimensions such as the uniqueness, functionality, aesthetic value and sustainability of the design concept. After a series of selections, the Grand Prize is only awarded to the outstanding works of the same design, with a selection rate of only 1%, which can be called the top of the pyramid in the field of design.
In terms of appearance, the Leapmotor C10 continues the technological and natural aesthetic design language of the Leap family, incorporating more parallel lines to highlight the "sense of power", creating a stable, reliable and safe visual experience.
The front face design adopts a balanced design technique, giving people a sense of stability and unassuming, the front end of the full and bulging hood and the raised rib line of the hood are full of a sense of power, the front protection uses flat straight lines and right-angle turns of the profile, with a dumbbell lower grille, highlighting the sense of power, the body skirt line, waist line and water tangent line are all designed to be coherent before and after, connecting the full front face with the dynamic rear end, and the hidden door handle makes the side plane more smooth and clear.
The recognizable front and rear light clusters echo the parallel lines of the vehicle, and the design is inspired by the sunrise scene on the sea for the whole family, symbolizing companionship and warmth. In addition, the digital intelligent lights of 8 scenes equipped on the outside of the car integrate appearance and technology to provide emotional expression for the vehicle and reflect the beauty of digital perceptual design.
The successive victories of Leapmotor C10 are not only an affirmation of its own design level, but also a high recognition of China's independent design strength, marking the rise of Chinese design on the global stage.
On the road to the sea, Leapmotor takes the lead with a product with global quality, global safety and global design. It should be pointed out that overseas brands that have maintained advantages in the automotive industry for many years will not sit idly by, and the road for Chinese brands to go overseas is still long and obstructive.
In October 2023, just one month after Leapmotor announced its global debut, Stellantis Group signed a cooperation agreement with Leapmotor to establish a 51:49 joint venture company called "Leapmotor International".
In the plan, by leveraging the extensive commercial assets, strength and accumulation of Stellantis Group around the world, Leapmotor's high-tech and cost-effective products will be sold worldwide.
In the few months since the debut of the Leapmotor C10, Leapmotor has formed an international team of Leapmotor throughout Europe and around the world. With the launch of the new car, relying on Stellantis' global channels, the Leapmotor C10 will be sold in multiple international markets starting in the second half of 2024, demonstrating the global standards and global quality of Chinese automobiles.
"With the cooperation with Stellantis, we can quickly obtain more and better channel resources, including the distribution system of parts, service system, and of course, the market. We will be one step ahead of others and will do better in all aspects of efficiency and cost. In Zhu Jiangming's view, the strong alliance will accelerate the pace of internationalization of Leap.
Write at the end
For a long time, the automobile has been known as the "jewel in the crown of modern industry", is the master of modern industrial technology, and is also recognized as one of the important symbols that can best reflect the country's manufacturing strength.
From January to February, domestic sales increased by 7% year-on-year to 3.204 million units, while exports increased by 30.5% to 822,000 units.
In the face of historic opportunities, China's auto industry needs pioneers and leaders.
With a product with global design, global safety and global quality, Leapmotor has set a new benchmark for value and demonstrated the new style of Chinese brands in the new era. On the other hand, the new cooperation model with Stellantis also provides a new idea for Chinese automobiles to go overseas.
After the C10, it is exciting to see how much miracle Leapmotor can create in the future.