The production of the Leapmotor T03 for the European market has already started

According to a recent report, European production of the Leapmotor T03 has already begun at the Stellantis plant in the Polish town of Tychy. The company’s goal is that, in this way, the first customer deliveries can take place next September.

The first units of the Leapmotor T03 began rolling off the assembly line at the Polish plant during the third week of June, covering the period from the 10th to the 16th. The company is confident it can gradually ramp up production of this electric city car, week by week, in order to reach maximum volume from next September onwards, in time for its launch on the European market.

Leapmotor International, a joint venture led by Stellantis with a 51 percent stake, will manage the Chinese brand’s operations in Europe, India and Asia-Pacific (excluding the Chinese market itself), the Middle East, Africa and South America. Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, this joint venture holds exclusive rights to export, manufacture and sell Leapmotor products outside China.

The T03 is only a first step in Leapmotor’s ambitious plans for Europe

Leapmotor International plans to introduce at least one new model each year and, so far, has confirmed the Leapmotor T03 and Leapmotor C10 models, both already available in China. The T03 is an electric city car with an expected range of 265 km under the WLTP homologation cycle, and it will compete directly with the Dacia Spring. The Leapmotor C10 is a mid-size SUV, available in China in fully electric and range-extender variants. For Europe, however, only the fully electric variant has been confirmed, with an expected WLTP range of 420 km.

Meanwhile, the Leapmotor A12, a new compact SUV, is also expected to enter production soon at Stellantis’s plant in Tychy. The Stellantis factory in Poland became the preferred location for Leapmotor International’s European production mainly because of its ability to keep costs low. Compared with roughly 1,000 euros at an Italian plant, for example, the production cost per vehicle at the Polish plant is only between 400 and 500 euros, very similar to that of any Leapmotor plant in China.

Unlike the Leapmotor T03 and the Leapmotor A12, the Leapmotor C10 will be imported from China. Following the recent upward revision of tariffs on electric vehicles imported into Europe from China, this model should face an import tariff of 21%, which could to some extent reduce its competitiveness in such a contested segment as affordable electric city cars.

Leapmotor International will be present in nine European countries from September: France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece and Romania. By year-end, it will have a network of 200 sales points spread across Europe.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackLeapmotor T031 version · from 19,475 €