In the past few decades, there has been a big gap between China's auto industry and other automotive powerhouses such as Europe, the United States and Japan. Therefore, in the domestic market, many independent brands will look for foreign car companies to cooperate, and introduce the products of foreign car companies into the domestic market through joint ventures, such as FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC Volkswagen, GAC Toyota, SAIC-GM Buick, etc.
However, with the continuous invasion of the new energy wave of automobiles, Chinese car companies have opened a new energy curve overtaking, and gradually occupied the active position in the new energy vehicle market by virtue of the advantages of new energy technology and product strength. Recently, Leapmotor and Stellantis Group jointly founded Leapmotor International Joint Venture. It is reported that Leapmotor International will first start sales in Europe in September 2024, and plans to expand its sales outlets in Europe to 200 by the end of this year. The joint venture also plans to enter India and Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and South America from the fourth quarter of this year.
Leapmotor International is the first joint venture
In fact, those who know Leapmotor know that Leapmotor and Stellantis Group have long cooperated. In October 2023, Stellantis Group invested approximately EUR 1.5 billion in Leapmotor to acquire approximately 21% of Leapmotor's equity. Stellantis Group is a large automotive group formed in 2021 by the merger of Italian-American car companies Fiat, Chrysler, and French car group Citroen. From 2021 to 2022, Stellantis Group sold 6.34 million vehicles worldwide, ranking fifth among global automotive groups.
Although Stellantis has the world's fifth-largest sales, its performance in China has been relatively sluggish. According to official disclosures, in the Chinese market, where the penetration rate of new energy is high, Stellantis Group's sales are relatively bleak, and the entire group's sales in China in 2022 are only 122,000 units.
In the face of the wave of new energy with a penetration rate of more than 50% and the growing size of China's automotive market, Stellantis Group urgently needs to realize the new energy transformation strategy "Dare Forward 2030" as soon as possible. Therefore, it will choose the first echelon of the new force to cooperate. As the first echelon of China's new forces, Leapmotor also hopes to take the opportunity of this cooperation to open up overseas markets and further expand sales.
At present, Leapmotor International, jointly established by Stellantis Group and Leapmotor, has been established in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with both parties holding 51% and 49% of the shares, respectively. The new company is led by Stellantis Group, with Xin Tianshu as CEO, and he is leading the team to actively prepare for the launch of the T03 and C10 electric vehicles in Europe. In addition, according to Leapmotor International, after Leapmotor goes abroad, it will share marketing channels with luxury brands such as Maserati in the European market, and may also be able to see the style of Leapmotor models in Maserati stores in Europe in the future. At the same time, it was learned from Leapmotor insiders that Leapmotor International's after-sales service may be merged into the Stellantis Group's after-sales channels, but the Leapmotor team will be responsible for training European employees, and after-sales maintenance with Maserati may become a reality in the future.
In addition, Leapmotor International also plans to launch the two models to the India, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and South American markets in the fourth quarter of 2024. According to Zhu Jiangming, the company not only plans to launch the T03 and C10 in Europe, but will also launch four new models in the next three years, including the A12, A03 and T05, T11 and other new models expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year. This global layout not only demonstrates Leapmotor's ambitions, but also indicates its far-reaching influence in the electric vehicle market. Through this series of strategic initiatives, Leapmotor International is committed to becoming an important force in the global electric vehicle field.
Take technology for the market, and take what you need
Many people will question why Stellantis Group chose to cooperate with Leapmotor. First of all, the average monthly sales of Leapmotor in China have stabilized between 15,000 and 20,000 units, and it has been ranked among the top three new power car companies in terms of sales for several consecutive months, and has firmly stood in the first echelon of China's new power car companies. Secondly, Leapmotor is backed by Dahua Group, with full-stack self-research capabilities and relatively abundant capital reserves. In addition, Leapmotor will finally usher in a positive profit at the beginning of 2024, which is rare among a number of new car companies.
Although the sales volume of Leapmotor in the Chinese market is relatively stable, the Chinese market is limited after all, and it is difficult for Leapmotor to achieve a major breakthrough in sales by relying on the domestic market alone, so it is particularly important to aim at a wide overseas market. Stellantis Group has more than 10,000 dealers in 130 countries around the world, which can also effectively ensure that Leapmotor can be quickly distributed to all parts of the world after going overseas, ensuring that it has a complete sales network.
With its stake in Leapmotor, Stellantis is further tapping into China's booming NEV market and filling an important part of its global electrification transformation strategy. This move not only enables Stellantis Group to leverage China's mature new energy supply chain and technology to inject new vitality into its overseas markets, but also opens a door to the international market for Leapmotor.
Through the in-depth cooperation with Stellantis, Leapmotor is expected to break through the bottleneck of sales and achieve overseas market expansion and profit improvement with the help of its strong international sales network. This kind of cross-border cooperation is not only a mutually beneficial and win-win strategic choice for both parties, but also reflects the globalization trend of the new energy vehicle industry and the importance of resource integration. The establishment of this cooperation will help promote the further development of the global new energy vehicle market, and at the same time provide a broader development space and international competitiveness for domestic new energy vehicle companies such as Leapmotor.