Leapmotor is one of many new Chinese car brands to have launched in the UK over the last couple of years – but this one is a little different to its rivals.
The company has been on a strong growth curve since launching its first car in 2019, from 1,000 global sales in its first year to nearly 300,000 just five years later. This has been helped by having the significant clout of Stellantis as a major partner – the automotive giant that owns 14 major brands, including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroën, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Maserati and others.
Leapmotor launched as an EV-only brand in the UK just over a year ago and is planning to accelerate in 2026. It is already the third-largest Chinese EV brand in the UK, behind BYD and MG, despite only having two models on sale for most of that first year. With a third model now on sale and a fourth arriving over the summer, plus some plug-in hybrid versions of existing models, the company expects rapid growth over the next 12 months.
One of Leapmotor’s key advantages is its integration into the existing Stellantis dealer network. It had more than 40 dealers on board at launch last spring, which has now doubled a year later. As well as providing 80 showrooms and service centres around the country, it also means integrating into the Stellantis parts network to ensure customers and dealers have access to all the parts they need as quickly as possible. That’s something some other new Chinese brands have struggled with.
There has been a lot of talk from Stellantis about how it can help Leapmotor get off the ground in Europe, but the same works in reverse. Stellantis has been struggling with sales and profitability, especially with its electric models, for the last few years. Having a budget Chinese EV brand as part of the family will be very useful for boosting overall group EV sales in markets like the UK, which has a mandate for minimum EV sales numbers, and in the EU, which launched a similar programme last year.
So who or what is Leapmotor?
Leapmotor is one of the newest car brands in the world, having been founded just over ten years ago. It was established in China in 2015, and its first vehicles entered production four years later.
The Leapmotor brand was officially launched in 2017, and the first vehicle, a mid-sized electric coupe called the Leapmotor S01, started production in 2019. Two more models followed in the next 18 months, a small city car called the T03 and a larger crossover called the C11.
The company’s big move, however, came in 2023 when Stellantis Group acquired 20% of Leapmotor for €1.5 billion. A new Leapmotor International division was launched, with ownership split 51 to 49% in favour of Stellantis and ambitions to sell Leapmotor vehicles in global markets outside China.
When did Leapmotor launch in the UK?
Leapmotor models went on sale in the UK with two models in March 2025 as part of an expansion throughout Europe.
By the summer of 2026, the company expects to have more than 80 dealers operating around the country. All of them are currently Stellantis dealers, so will be co-located with familiar brands like Vauxhall, Fiat, Citroën or Peugeot.
As the company enters its second year, we’ll start to see the first examples of used vehicles entering the marketplace. This will again be done through the existing Stellantis network, called Spoticar. More details are likely to follow in coming weeks.
What models does Leapmotor have and what else is coming?
Leapmotor made its UK debut with two electric models, the C10 family SUV and the T03 small car, while the smaller B10 compact SUV joined the family in late 2025.
The T03 is of similar size to the Fiat 500e and is currently the cheapest new car on sale in the UK. This and a lot of space has earned the T03 plaudits from reviewers, though they’ve been less impressed by the driving experience – especially the issue that affects many Chinese cars, over-intrusive driver warning systems.
The C10 is an electric SUV sized to rival the likes of the Skoda Enyaq and Nissan Ariya. It is about to gain an extra model going the range-extender route, which is technically a plug-in hybrid but one where the engine only works to generate power for the battery, which then provides electricity for an electric motor to drive the car.
The B10 joined these two in late 2025. As with the larger C10, this was launched as an electric model, but a range-extender model is also expected later this year. It competes with the likes of the MG S5, Kia EV3 and more than a dozen other small electric SUVs.
Joining these in the summer of 2026 will be an electric family hatchback called the B05, which is similar in size to a Volkswagen ID.3 or MG 4. This will be followed by an even smaller SUV model called the B03X, which will compete against the likes of the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross and BYD Atto 2.
Although Leapmotor will offer at least two range-extender models, the main focus for the brand will continue to be fully electric cars, with more than 90% of sales expected to be full EVs.
Where can I try a Leapmotor car?
As of May 2026, there are about 80 Leapmotor outlets in the UK, and all of them will be found alongside existing Stellantis franchises. In many cases, Leapmotor showrooms are replacing Vauxhall showrooms that have closed in recent years, and the network already includes some of the biggest dealer groups in the UK market.
The company claims that 95% of its customers are from outside the Stellantis family, which will help allay concerns within the organisation that Leapmotor will cannibalise existing brands like Vauxhall and Fiat. It also says that a large proportion of Leapmotor customers are buying their first EV.
What’s particularly significant about this company?
While Leapmotor has been among a raft of new Chinese start-ups in the UK, it does claim to offer the cheapest new car in the UK in the T03, which is priced at under £16,000 (including the government’s electric car grant). With cost being pitched as one of the prime factors preventing drivers from going electric, such value-pitched pricing could give the company a significant advantage over rivals.
What makes Leapmotor different to the rest?
Much about Leapmotor is a familiar tale seen across the Chinese electric vehicle market – high technology companies looking to sell their products on a global stage. But it is the Stellantis link that sets this new brand apart.
While Stellantis has been keen to talk up its role in bringing a new brand to market, it’s important to remember that the French-Italian giant is doing this for a good reason. Stellantis needs Leapmotor as much as Leapmotor needs Stellantis right now, as every car company looks to ramp up EV sales while still trying to turn a profit.
Summary
Leapmotor is quietly building a solid presence in the UK. It may not have the headline-grabbing sales results of fellow new Chinese brands like BYD and Omoda-Jaecoo, but the company claims that it exceeded its targets for its first year and is building an economically sustainable business that will continue to grow steadily.
Although the company is not saying anything yet, it seems inevitable that there will be closer integration between future Leapmotor models and future models from other Stellantis brands. We’ll keep you posted as this new brand continues its UK expansion.
Additional reporting by Andrew Charman. This article was originally published in May 2025 and was most recently updated in May 2026.
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