- A Leapmotor executive previously said the first model in the D series targets a price point of around RMB 300,000 ($42,180).
- Leapmotor plans to cover the market segment priced between RMB 60,000 and RMB 300,000 with 13-14 models across its A, B, C, and D series.
Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) will unveil its first D-series model in about a month, intensifying its push in the mid-to-large SUV segment.
The company's new flagship D19 will make its global debut on October 16, Leapmotor announced today on Weibo.
A poster shared by Leapmotor indicates the D19 is an SUV, while its naming suggests it could become the company's highest-priced model, as the number 9 typically signifies supremacy.
Last week, spy photos of an undisguised D19 began circulating on Chinese social media, though most of these images have since been removed.
Leapmotor's current lineup in China includes the T03, B01, B10, C01, C10, C11, and C16.
The C-series is currently its most expensive offering, yet priced at roughly half that of Li Auto's extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) models, earning the company the nickname "half-price Li Auto."
On July 28, Leapmotor senior vice president Cao Li said that the first D-series model targets a price point of around RMB 300,000 yuan ($42,180) and will feature the company's most advanced technologies.
Before that, Leapmotor founder and chairman Zhu Jiangming said at a Qualcomm summit in June that the company's D series models would enter mass production in the first quarter of next year, when Leapmotor's next-generation central domain controller would debut with Qualcomm's dual Snapdragon 8797 chips.
Last December, Zhu indicated the D series would target the RMB 200,000 to RMB 300,000 market segment -- a large-capacity automotive market.
Over the next three years, the company would deploy 13-14 models across its A, B, C, and D series to cover the RMB 60,000 to RMB 300,000 price range, Zhu said at the time.
Last month, Leapmotor COO Xu Jun shared two images on Weibo showing camouflaged prototypes, hinting they belong to the D series.
These two models -- one appearing to be an SUV and the other an MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) -- underwent summer testing in the scorching heat of Turpan, Xinjiang, according to Xu.
Leapmotor delivered 57,066 vehicles in August, marking its fourth consecutive month of record-high deliveries, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
From January to August, Leapmotor delivered 328,859 vehicles, a 136.43 percent year-on-year increase.
($1 = RMB 7.1123)
