Chinese brand Leapmotor is set to enter South Africa in 2025, likely leveraging joint-venture partner Stellantis’ sales and service network. Here’s what we know so far…
It’s official: Stellantis has confirmed that the Leapmotor brand is scheduled to launch in South Africa, with local operations set to kick off with sales of the fully electric C10 in September 2025.
So, what exactly is the relationship between Stellantis and the Chinese marque? Well, in October 2023, Stellantis acquired a 21% stake in the Hangzhou-based firm, which was founded back in 2015 as Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., Ltd.
Thereafter, the 2 companies formed “Leapmotor International”, a joint venture with exclusive rights for the export, sale and manufacture of Leapmotor products outside of China. Stellantis holds a 51% majority in this Amsterdam-headquartered joint venture.
So, as is the case with Leapmotor International’s recent rollout in Europe, this new-to-Mzansi brand will seemingly fall under the broader Stellantis umbrella, alongside marques such as Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, Opel and Peugeot. As such, it will likely leverage Stellantis SA’s existing sales and service network.
For the record, Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., Ltd applied to register the “Leapmotor” name and logo in South Africa as recently as June 2024, with the application status currently listed as “pending”.
Leapmotor opened its order books in Europe in September 2024, kicking off its operations on the Old Continent with the A-segment T03 and D-segment C10. Interestingly, only the latter has so far been confirmed for South Africa, with the T03 – which at 3 620 mm long is around the size of Stellantis SA’s Fiat 500 – seemingly not on the local menu at launch (mirroring the approach taken in Australia).
While the T03 is a small electric city car with a WLTP single-charge range of 265 km, the Leapmotor C10 is described as the brand’s “first global product, built according to global design and safety standards” and offering a WLTP range of 420 km thanks to its 69.9-kWh battery pack.
Measuring 4 739 mm from nose to tail, the C10 SUV is about the size of the Mazda CX-60 though eschews a combustion engine in favour of a fully electric powertrain. With a single electric motor mounted on the rear axle, the C10 offers peak outputs of 160 kW and 320 Nm.
It’s not yet clear which other Leapmotor models might follow the C10 into the South African market, though the joint venture’s product roadmap lists both B- and C-segment hatchbacks and SUVs. The brand also offers a sedan in its domestic market of China. Stayed tuned for more local details as we have them…
Related content
New base Citroën C3 Aircross to drop entry price by R75k
