October 26, 2023 marked a major milestone and turning point in China’s auto industry when Stellantis Group, the world’s 4th largest automaker, and LeapMotor, China’s №4 pure-play NEV manufacturer by sales, inked a strategic cooperation deal for the former to invest 1.5 billion Euros to acquire 21.3% of the latter, making Stellantis the second biggest shareholder of the Chinese smart EV startup and essentially adding a key 15th brand to the Stellantis’ multi-brand arsenal. The two will also form LeapMotor International, a 51:49 Stellantis-led joint venture that will have exclusive rights for the export, sale and manufacturing of LeapMotor products outside China, with shipments expected to begin in the second half of 2024.
The deal comes 40 years after Beijing Jeep, China’s first vehicle joint venture was established, and exactly three months after Volkswagen’s $700 million investment in Xpeng, the latest reflection yet of entirely new ways of sino-foreign cooperation in the post-JV smart EV era in China. The deal ends months of rumors involving Stellantis and the Hong Kong-listed smart EV startup based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
But who is LeapMotor? Who is behind LeapMotor?
The article below that appeared in the May 2017 (Vol. 12, No. 5) issue of China Automotive Review, a monthly tabloid magazine in English focused exclusively on the Chinese auto industry, provides a look into the early days of the 8-year old Chinese smart EV startup that is about to become a lot more global with the help of Stellantis.
Zero to leap: LeapMotor
Every moment in business happens only once. Doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to N, adding more of something familiar. But every time we create something new, we go from 0 to 1.
LeapMotor, or “Ling Pao” in Chinese (which means from zero to leap), is a new car company established by Zhu Jiangming, chairman and founder who is betting that the rise of electric cars will propel his company into the automotive spotlight after a lifetime of being a provider for monitoring products and service solutions.
At a new energy vehicle show in Jinhua, Zhejiang on March 17, Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., Ltd. unveiled the LeapMotor brand, which is the same name as the company founded in 2015. The first model will be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in 2018.
“The auto industry is still not the most competitive industry, and the market share of Chinese brands is still far behind that of foreign brands. Traditional carmakers are constrained by their old models relying on core technologies in chassis, engine and transmission,” Zhu said. “We can see things with different eyes and new technologies.”
Zhu’s goal is to capitalize on the transition from gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles. “Zero emissions is another reason why our new brand is called “Ling Pao,” explained Zhu.
Dahua is a provider of video surveillance products and services, with the world’s 2nd largest market share, according to an IHS 2016 report. The company ranked 4th in 2016 by a&s Security 50, which ranks global security industry players according to total security equipment sales. Since its IPO in Shenzhen in 2008, Dahua has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 47.67%. Now it is worth more than ¥38 billion ($5.52 billion) and has footprints in more than 180 countries. Fu Liquan, chairman and president of Dahua, was born and raised in a peasant family near the Qiantang River. He demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit of Zhejiang businessmen by establishing Dahua in 2001.
Dahua’s decision to make NEVs is due to practical considerations. Its core business is slowing alongside the world economy, and the size of the entire security industry is only $100 billion. China expects to have 5 million NEVs on the roads by 2020, so the company saw an opportunity and kicked off the NEV project in 2015.
According to company official announcement released in September 2015, it registered the official name LeapMotor on December 30 of that year. Total investment is ¥100 million and the shareholder structure is: a ¥33 million investment by Dahua for 33% of the shares, ¥20 million by Zhu for a 20% share and ¥32 million by Fu for 32%. While Zhu and Fu are president and chairman of Dahua respectively, LeapMotor can be viewed as a startup by Dahua.
LeapMotor will invest ¥2.5 billion in a production plant and the construction of the production facilities in Jinhua has already gotten approval in February. The construction and equipment buyoff is planned to be completed by the end of this year, and pilot production is scheduled to start in June 2018. At full capacity, the factory will have capacity to produce up to 50,000 EVs annually.
The first car that will roll off the line will be an electric sedan in 2018, and the second to follow is to be launched in 2019. Today LeapMotor has about 300 active employees, of which 90 percent are working on research and development, and most of them are from traditional OEMs with years of auto industry experience.
With its BMS battery technology and a lightweight body developed for its coming new model, Zhu introduced that the first LeapMotor will get well over 360 km of range. And its R&D team is in the process of building a connected model with its existing HDCVI image transfer technique and other cutting-edge technologies in camera lens, image sensor, video encoding and transmission, embedded processor, graphic processing, video analytics, software reliability and network security technology. Dahua in fact has already attained many patents in these technologies. With abundant experience in video surveillance, it has already launched intelligent car park solution in January, which is based upon video surveillance and video analysis technologies. Moreover, it is integrated with background smart analysis system DH-DSS4004-EMS. Entrance control function of Dahua smart car park solution saves labor cost but delivers much easier as well as safer entry experiences. Zhu also explained the car will become an information terminal which is able to collect data from cameras, radars, ultrasonic and other sensors.
The company has announced its major suppliers including Yanfeng Adient, Infineon, Johnson Controls, Fuyao and Somick. And most of the core components of the vehicle have already been defined and completed the selection of suppliers, and batteries will be provided by Panasonic.
More players have been introduced into the fledgling NEV sector, a move that analysts believe will help to encourage further competition and fuel the segment’s growth.
On March 31, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced the approval of Henan Suda EV to build EVs with an annual capacity of 100,000 units, the 12th among companies that have gotten similar approvals over the last year.
Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei said policies during the next phases will favor companies which excel technologically, while preventing the repetitive construction of low-level companies.
LeapMotor has already gone from 0 to 1 and now let’s see if it can pass strict examinations by the government and successfully sell to end consumers and “leap” over competitors.
