China has an objective with its automotive industry: flooding Europe and other main markets with its cars. Its main bet are electric, but Chinese brands are consolidating in the West with all kinds of motorizations. Saic, Geely, Byd and, of course, Xiaomi, are increasingly recognizable brands in the market, but at the end of 2024, another joined the party: Leapmotor. Its objective is to compete in the most tight Price segment, and for this they joined Stellantis. Now, the first ship loaded with the new Leapmotor B10 has left China towards Europe.
And it is a serious bet to assault the urban electric SUV segment of 30,000 euros.
Stellantis 🤝 China. Stellantis is one of the biggest automotive groups, but in recent years he has had to face an image crisis due to its Puretech engines. Millions of cars with potentially defective engines translate into a guarantee extension (with the cost that this implies for the brand), they have burned millions of euros in unsuccessful developments and have even managed to anger the Italian police. To try to bite in the electricity share of the electric, at the end of 2023 it invested 1,500 million euros in Leapmotor to have 21% of the company.
With that movement it became a strategic shareholder of the Chinese company, but they also created a joint venture called Leapmotor International directed by Stellantis (51%) and Leapmotor (49%) that gives Stellantis exclusive rights to export, sell and manufacture Leapmotor products outside China. In a nutshell: Stellantis assembles and sells Chinese models in Europe and other markets and Leapmotor takes advantage of the Stellantis distribution network to consolidate its position in the global market. And a very important model is the B10.
Leapmotor B10. Leapmotor has designed the B10 with the international market in mind. It has a 218 hp motorization and something common with the rest of Chinese cars (and following the trend that has swallowed until the identity of Mazda), a 14.6 -inch screen dominates the interior. After the steering wheel there is an instrument frame that is also a panel of 8.8 inches.
It has a length of 4.52 meters by 1.89 meters wide and will arrive with two battery options. On the one hand, 56.2 kWh that allows up to 361 kilometers WLTP. On the other, 67.1 kWh for up to 434 kilometers. The load is up to 168 kW, allowing 80% of the battery to recover in half an hour.
Leven Anclas. The commercial debut of the SUV will occur at the Munich Mobility IAA. It is one of the most important windows for electric vehicles and, both Stellantis and Leapmotor, they want to ensure a good inventory for possible buyers. China wants to dominate the electric cars sector in Europe (and not only of electric), and companies do not conform to rent huge ro-ro ships to transport their product.
We have already seen cases such as those of Byd or Saic inaugurating a fleet to transport their cars, and Leapmotor has also secured his own, but without having his own fleet. An alliance with the Italian Grimaldi Group is the one that will allow the Chinese company to use its ships, including the latest generation, for its operations. The one who has already left from China with 2,500 units of B10 is the great Tianjin, which holds imposing figures:
- 200 meters of length.
- 38 meters manga.
- Capacity for up to 9,241 units.
- Electrical system to avoid emissions during scales.
- Low emissions man engines prepared for future conversion to fuels without carbon.
Rivals. The idea is that the great Tianjin arrives on time for both the presentation at the German event and for the start of sales in concessionaires. In addition, its arrival will allow Stellantis to have a car to compete, directly, with the most settled electronic SUVs in our market such as the Renault ScĂ©nic E-Tech, the Volkkswagen ID.4, the Byd Atto 3 and the most ‘dangerous’, the MG ZS EV.
The version with less autonomy is expected to be positioned for less than 30,000 euros, a figure lower than those of those direct rivals, but we must wait for the official presentation to confirm it.
Climbing. Although the IAA Mobiliy is the event that marks the start of Stellantis and Leapmotor operations with the B10, companies will not limit this model to the European market. Apart from 20 countries in the continent, the intention is to sell it in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America at the end of this year.
Images | Stellantis
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