- Leapmotor rolled out a €49 monthly lease plan for the T03 in Germany, costing only half the price of its European rivals in the same class.
- Boosted by Stellantis's sales network and German EV subsidies, Leapmotor's deliveries in Germany surged 358% in the first four months of this year.
Chinese EV maker Leapmotor (HKEX: 9863) is accelerating its expansion in Europe's largest auto market by launching a lease plan for its T03 compact EV in Germany.
German consumers can lease the T03 for €49 ($58) a month, a plan that factors in a new electric vehicle subsidy, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.
This attractive price is even cheaper than many local mobile phone plans in Germany, as Leapmotor hopes to capture a larger market share, the report noted.
The lease offer taps into a €3 billion EV subsidy program introduced in Germany this year, bringing the T03's monthly rent to roughly half that of its similarly sized competitors.
For direct comparison, the similarly sized Fiat 500e electric vehicle from the Stellantis group has a monthly lease price of about €99.
Leapmotor is backed by Stellantis, and the two companies just announced an expanded partnership last week.
The Leapmotor T03 was launched in Europe in September 2024, entering the German market at that time.
Despite its low price, the Leapmotor T03 comes generously equipped, featuring a panoramic sunroof, a rearview camera system, and up to six airbags as standard.
In most competing models from local European brands, these premium features typically require consumers to pay extra as optional add-ons rather than being offered as standard equipment.
Leapmotor's ability to execute such a disruptive pricing strategy is largely due to the strong support of its European partner, Stellantis.
By directly utilizing Stellantis's existing sales and distribution network in Germany, Leapmotor has significantly reduced its initial operating costs for entering the European market.
This highly cost-effective marketing push is already paying off, with data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) showing its April sales more than quadrupled year-on-year.
Between January and April 2026, cumulative deliveries of the Leapmotor brand in the German market reached 4,523 vehicles, representing an overall delivery surge of 358%, according to data released by the KBA on Thursday.
This lease plan is a prime example of Chinese automakers challenging local European car manufacturers, with brands like BYD (HKEX: 1211) and Geely Auto (HKEX: 0175) also actively rolling out affordable EVs.
Unlike China, many European markets are heavily skewed toward car leasing and B2B fleet transactions, where companies lease vehicles on behalf of their employees.
Car leasing is very common in Germany. When Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) launched three new models — the ET7, EL7, and ET5 — in Germany in 2022, it initially offered only subscription services, hoping to cater to local consumer habits.
However, after a brief trial of this strategy, the company opened up the three models for full purchase.
($1 = €0.8500)
