Stellantis, which has a controlling stake in the Leapmotor International joint venture, stopped EV production in Poland last week, as reported by the French newspaper Les Echos on Monday and confirmed by the Franco-Italian carmaker on Tuesday.
“While the company remains fully engaged in the launch of Leapmotor vehicles in Europe”, Stellantis stated, “at the moment it is evaluating different production options.”
According to Reuters, the automaker did not disclose the reason for the halt. Leapmotor’s T03 units are aimed at the European markets.
Manufacturing costs at Leapmotor’s plant in Poland are estimated at €400–€500 ($442–$553) per vehicle, similar to its production base in China, while costs at the Italian plant are around €1,000, according to a Jefferies research note published last year.
Last year, plans to build a second model (the B10 electric SUV) at the Tychy plant were discarded after the Chinese Government privately urged in October automakers to halt investments in European countries that supported EU tariffs on Chinese EVs, such as Poland.
The B10 SUV, the first model built on its LEAP 3.5 platform, was announced in early March and secured over 15,000 pre-orders. The model is priced between 109,800 and 139,800 yuan ($15,100–$19,200), with official launch and deliveries expected to start later this week.
The company announced its official launch in the UK last month, introducing the T03 city compact and the C10 SUV as the first models in the market.
The brand’s EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) model C10 reached 12,000 deliveries in China, a “cumulative total of 100,000 units since its launch”, according to a Leapmotor’s statement on Tuesday.
The brand also announced that the SUV will arrive in the European dealerships by “mid-April”, with a starting price of €37.400, equivalent to $40,850.
Weekly Sales in China
Leapmotor sold 5,100 vehicles in China from March 31 to April 6, data revealed on Chinese social media on Tuesday showed. The figures represent a 37% drop from the previous week, where it registered 8,100 units.
China observed a three-day holiday from April 4 to 6 for the Ching Ming Festival, which impacted both production and deliveries in the auto industry.
Competitors
Li Auto recorded 6,100 units, a 29.5% decline from 8,800, and Xiaomi reported 5,100 vehicles sold, a 34.6% drop from 7,800, marking the first notable shift in its weekly performance since the post-Chinese New Year slowdown in early February.
XPeng stood out with a 21% rise week over week, increasing registrations from 6,200 to 7,500.
Tesla had the sharpest drop, with weekly sales plunging 82.5% to 3,600 from 20,600 at the end of March. The dip reflects the company’s usual strategy of front-loading exports from its Shanghai factory at the start of each quarter.
BYD sold 45,100 units last week, down 25% from 60,400 the week prior. The brand was the best-selling group in China year to date, with about 668,500 units registered, followed by Tesla with 137,600 units.
Li Auto and XPeng almost reached 100K units sold, with 97,200 and 95,900 vehicles respectively. Xiaomi recorded 79,700 vehicles, while Leapmotor sold 77,000 units.
Q1 Results + Outlook
Leapmotor reported March deliveries of 37,095 vehicles, up 154% from the same period last year, as it advances toward its 2025 sales goal of 500,000 units.
In the first quarter of 2025, the company delivered a total of 93,724 vehicles. Leapmotor exceeded its 2024 target with 293,724 vehicles delivered over the year, according to a company statement.
