Production of the Chinese-origin Leapmotor T03 minivan has begun in Tychy, Poland, the cheapest version of which can cost less than 20,000 euros (about 7.7 million Hungarian forints). As of September, it will be distributed in Belgium, France, Greece, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Romania. Car news europe.
The production cost of T03 per copy is about 400-500 euros (about 160-200 thousand forints), which, according to the source of the article, corresponds to the typical cost level at the headquarters of the Chinese company Leapmotor, and about half the cost of producing cars of the same volume produced in Italy. .
The 75bhp, 3.6m long and just over 1.6m wide T03 is equipped with a 36.5kWh battery and can travel up to 265km according to WLTP standards. The type could thus be a direct competitor to the Dacia Spring and Citroën e-C3, which were also presented at Telex, in a segment that a large number of major manufacturers cite as key to the spread of electric cars.
An important advantage of the Leapmotor T03 is that although the brand is still little known in Europe, it costs approximately 700,000 HUF less than Dacia. Since 21 percent of the Chinese brand is owned by European Stellantis, distribution of the type and the C10 mid-range SUV promised for 2025 could start at existing dealerships that currently sell Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Peugeot or even Opel.
Leapmotor was only founded in 2015 and only started producing cars in 2019, and then in 2023, Stellantis came on board as owner for €1.5 billion, specifically to prepare for the start of European distribution. The brand sold a total of 144,000 cars last year.
The European automotive giant did not stop there, as according to its previous announcement, after the first phase of Leapmotor distribution, electric cars of Chinese origin but manufactured in Poland will also appear in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Switzerland, so by 2026, there will be a total of five hundred locations. Throughout Europe, it will be possible to buy new cars of this brand and in the meantime production of the second type could also start in Tychy.
