Leapmotor crossed 1,000 retail locations in Europe in September, a milestone reached about two years after the Chinese automaker first entered the continent through its joint venture with Stellantis.
Network coverage now stands at 1,020 points across 36 countries, from Iceland to Bulgaria, which the company said reaches 80% of the region.
European customers sit an average of 22 minutes from a Leapmotor retailer, down from about 25 minutes when the count stood at more than 800 in February.
Leapmotor International, the 51/49 joint venture with Stellantis that holds exclusive rights to sell and manufacture Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China, has driven the expansion by plugging the brand into dealerships already selling Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën.
Recent openings took place in Norway and the Balkans, with additional locations planned before year-end.
From 200 to 1,000
Speed has defined the rollout.
Leapmotor began selling the C10 and T03 in Europe in September 2024, with an initial nine countries and a target of 200 sales points by the end of that year.
The network reached 450 outlets in February 2025 and 600 by June 2025. By February 2026 it had passed 800 points of sales and service, double its 2024 size, after entering Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden during 2025.
Leapmotor’s approach is structurally different from most Chinese entrants. Rather than investing in standalone showrooms, the brand sits inside existing Stellantis dealerships, sharing floor space and aftersales infrastructure.
A customer buying a Leapmotor B10 may do so at the same site that services Peugeot 208s and Fiat 500s.
Stellantis operates one of Europe’s largest dealership networks, and the arrangement gives Leapmotor reach that would take years and hundreds of millions of euros to replicate independently.
Europe Takes a Bigger Share
Europe accounted for 27% of Leapmotor’s global deliveries in August, the largest share the continent has ever represented for the brand. The company did not define the figure, and it cannot be reconciled with Leapmotor’s own export data.
Leapmotor’s exports totalled 113,863 vehicles through July and 132,118 through August, implying about 18,300 in August, or about 18% of global deliveries, across all overseas markets, not only Europe.
Its best month in Europe so far was June, with 12,829 registrations across the EU, EFTA and the UK, according to ACEA data.
The 27% matches the share of Leapmotor’s first-half deliveries that were exported, 96,294 of 356,487.
Global sales in August reached a record 103,129 units, the second consecutive month above 100,000 and the fifth straight monthly record.
Registrations in the European Union rose 526.7% in the first half to 48,261 vehicles, according to ACEA, making Leapmotor the fastest-growing brand in the bloc over that period and placing it ahead of Alfa Romeo, Lexus, Honda and Porsche by volume.
In Britain, the brand passed 11,000 registrations since its spring 2025 launch and took 1% of new car sales and 3% of the electric market in June, when it registered 2,150 vehicles.
Leapmotor disclosed overseas sales targets for the first time at its interim results briefing in August, projecting 150,000 to 200,000 vehicles outside China this year.
Spanish Production Weeks Away
Leapmotor’s dependence on Chinese-built vehicles for European supply is about to change.
Pre-production of the B10, Leapmotor’s compact SUV and its best-selling model in Britain, is under way at Stellantis’ Figueruelas plant near Zaragoza, Spain, according to Spanish media reports. Series production is scheduled for October, the company said in August.
Initial annual volume is set at 40,000 units.
Three more models, the B05, A10 and A05, are planned for 2027, Leapmotor’s Global Quality Director Ding Yongfei said in December, giving the plant up to four Leapmotor lines.
Local production carries a direct cost advantage.
Chinese-made EVs imported into the EU pay a 10% duty plus countervailing tariffs of 7.8% to 35.3%, depending on the manufacturer. Neither Stellantis nor Leapmotor has disclosed the rate its China-built cars pay.
Cars built in Zaragoza avoid the countervailing charge entirely.
Leapmotor also plans battery assembly at Mallén, in Zaragoza province. Lieder Automotive, a joint venture between China’s Duoli Technology and Basque supplier Fagor Ederlan, was scheduled to begin building B10 chassis at a former Fagor plant in Borja from July.
Leapmotor has said UK buyers will continue receiving Chinese-built cars, since Britain does not impose additional tariffs on Chinese EVs.
Spanish output will be directed to EU markets where the tariff savings justify local assembly, UK Managing Director Damien Dally told Auto Express.
Broader Product Push
Leapmotor is expanding beyond the battery-electric and range-extended powertrains that have defined the brand since its 2015 founding.
At a technology event on September 16, the company unveiled a plug-in hybrid drive unit called MM-i and a world-model-based assisted driving system designed to reach cars priced below 100,000 yuan ($14,900) on grades fitted with LiDAR.
A second brand targeting the segment above 300,000 yuan ($44,800) remains on track, with first products expected between late 2026 and early 2027, according to Chief Financial Officer Li Tengfei.
Financial results present a mixed picture.
Leapmotor cut its full-year net profit guidance by 40% in August, to 3 billion yuan ($448 million), citing rising raw material costs.
First-half gross margin fell to 11.7% from 14.1% a year earlier.
Management set a full-year target of 13% to 14%, implying a second-half recovery.
Deliveries for the first eight months of 2026 reached 560,883, about 56% of the company’s one-million-unit annual target.
Closing the remaining 439,117 vehicles across September through December requires an average of about 109,779 a month, above August’s record.
What 1,000 Locations Mean
A network measured in the hundreds or low thousands matters more for a young brand than for an established one.
Leapmotor’s vehicles are new to European buyers, and many potential customers have never sat in one.
Proximity to a showroom lowers that barrier.
Aftersales access carries equal weight.
A dealer network does not settle every question about aftersales.
Dutch insurer Univé excluded Leapmotor from cover in August, along with eight other new brands, citing concerns over parts supply and repair support. Leapmotor remains insurable in the Netherlands through a policy offered by Stellantis Financial Services.
