Stellantis' Leapmotor to debut in Malaysia - Leap T03 to be the latest RM 100k BEV?

After launching the Peugeot 408, Stellantis will soon host the public debut of Leapmotor – the group’s PHEV / EREV / BEV-only brand.

Leap Motor is a Chinese electric car manufacturer that is 20 percent owned by Stellantis. In October 2023, Stellantis paid 1.6 billion Euros (~RM 7.65 billion) for a fifth of the company, reviving it from bankruptcy.

According to a Facebook post by organizers of the 2024 Malaysia Auto Show, Leap Motor will be among the exhibitors, suggesting that the brand will be making its public debut there.

The Malaysia Auto Show will run from 22 to 26 May 2024, at MAEPS in Serdang, Selangor. It’s organized by MARii (Malaysia Automotive, Robotics & IoT Institute).

Stellantis has previously said that Leapmotor will be marketed as an affordable EV brand, positioned between the upper mainstream Peugeot and the mass market Citroen (yet to be launched).

Leapmotor’s cheapest car is the Leap T03. In China, it starts from just under 50,000 Yuan, or 50% cheaper than the BYD Dolphin.

The A-segment hatchback measures 3,620 mm long and 1,652 mm wide – that footprint is smaller than a Perodua Axia (3,760 mm long, 1,665 mm wide).

In China, there are three variants with varying levels of power output – 54 PS (200 km range), 75 PS (310 km range), and 109 PS (403 km range). Top speed is limited to 100 km/h.

Malaysia’s import and excise tax exemptions for imported battery EVs (BEVs) is tied to a floor price limit of RM 100,000 (on-the-road with insurance), but this limit doesn’t apply to locally assembled models.

Regardless, it’s quite hard to imagine an electric car with a limited to speed of 100 km/h being taken seriously in Malaysia, where majority of buyers of budget cars expect their cars to at least be able to do interstate journeys on highways.

But perhaps Stellantis knows something we don’t, or it could also be that Leapmotor will launch the brand with higher-end models like the C10 or the C01.

The Leap C10 is a 5-seater D-segment SUV. Battery sizes range from 52.9 kWh to 69.9 kWh, delivering a driving range of 410 km and 530 km respectively, when tested under CLTC, the Chinese version of WLTP test cycle.

The C10 is also available as an extended range electric vehicle (EREV), basically a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), but with a 1.5-litre combustion engine that functions solely as an on-board generator to charge the 28.4 kWh battery. The engine is fired up when a public charger is not available.

EREV variants of the C10 have an electric-only range of 140 km, but when used with the combustion engine, it can go up to 1,020 km, when tested under the WLTP test cycle.

However, unlike China, Malaysia doesn’t treat PHEV as an electric car, so it doesn’t get the same kind of tax exemptions, which makes the prospects of seeing the C10 extremely low.

Whether Stellantis will launch Leapmotor with the T03 or C10, we will have to wait until later this month to have a clearer answer.

Last year, Leapmotor sold 144,155 cars, almost all in China. For reference, even Proton was able to shift 154,611 units last year.