- Market development in Hong Kong and Macau will be handled by Leapmotor's marketing team in the Chinese mainland.
- Leapmotor views Hong Kong as a stage to showcase its products to global users and a window for global capital to understand the company.
Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) announced that it has officially entered the Hong Kong market, with its first local store opening today, marking its 1,500th store globally.
Market expansion in Hong Kong and Macau will be handled by Leapmotor's marketing team in the Chinese mainland, said the company's founder, chairman and CEO Zhu Jiangming, as reported by local media outlet Jiemian.
He noted that while Hong Kong's automotive market is only 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles annually, it can serve as a platform for Leapmotor to showcase its products to global users and as a window for global capital to understand Leapmotor.
Leapmotor will also finalize the locations for its assembly plants in Europe and Southeast Asia by the end of this year, according to Jiemian.
From January to May, Leapmotor's export volume exceeded 17,000 units, ranking first among China's new energy vehicle (NEV) startups, the report noted.
The company has partnered with dealers to open about 500 stores overseas, primarily in Europe.
On October 26, 2023, Leapmotor announced that Stellantis would invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) to acquire about 20 percent equity, becoming the EV maker's largest external shareholder.
In May 2024, Stellantis and Leapmotor established a joint venture, Leapmotor International, with a 51:49 equity ratio, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Leapmotor is leveraging Stellantis' distribution channels to establish sales networks in international markets.
Leapmotor delivered 45,067 vehicles in May, representing a year-on-year increase of 148.10 percent and a month-on-month increase of 9.82 percent, according to data released on June 1.
Leapmotor delivered 173,658 vehicles from January to May, up 160.83 percent year-on-year, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
As of the end of May, Leapmotor had accumulated total deliveries of 773,206 vehicles since its establishment.
($1 = EUR 0.8758)
