China’s Leapmotor said on April 10 it will refund subscription fees of its assisted driving software to all of its customers who had paid RMB 588 ($81) for the technology on an annual basis, becoming the first automaker using the approach to attract customers. Leapmotor will refund the relevant fees to those who have subscribed to the company’s Navigation Assist Pilot (NAP) software by the end of May, and new customers now have access to the advanced driver assistance system without extra charges, according to a statement. By comparison, Tesla and Huawei currently offers Chinese customers of their vehicles access to their latest assisted driving systems for a one-time RMB 64,000 and RMB 30,000 fee, respectively. The Chinese electric vehicle maker, backed by European car giant Stellantis, on the same day launched the B10, a compact crossover competing with BYD’s budget model Yuan Plus, or Atto 3, at a price range of RMB 99,800 to RMB 129,800. The top-end variants, equipped with a lidar sensor, can navigate their way automatically on Chinese highways and city streets, Leapmotor said. [TechNode reporting]
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