“Our goal for this year is to advance one more rank among emerging EV makers, or at least we are striving in that direction.” Recently, Zhu Jiangming, the founder, chairman and CEO of Leapmotor, talked about the company’s 2024 target in an interview with NBD.

Photo/Provided by Leapmotor

Data shows that in 2023, Leapmotor delivered more than 144,000 new cars, ranking third in the annual delivery list of the new forces of car making in China, behind Ideal Automobile and NIO. According to Zhu Jiangming’s expectation, Leapmotor’s sales target for 2024 is to at least take the runner-up in the annual sales of the new forces of car making.

But it should be noted that the current domestic car market “price war” is still ongoing. Especially after entering March, more than 10 car companies have announced price cuts, which has also accelerated the process of industry elimination. “The competition in the whole industry is very cruel, and (the companies that can) persist to the end are successful.” Zhu Jiangming believes.

On March 2, Leapmotor launched a new version of its full range of models, the biggest change being the comprehensive “price reduction and configuration increase”. In addition, Leapmotor’s new model - C10 was also officially launched. From the interior design to the publicity tone, it was considered to be close to Li Auto’s L series models. Leapmotor even said that this car is “a more ideal home for young people”.

Zhu Jiangming told NBD: “Every detail of Leapmotor C10 learns from Li Auto L7. In terms of understanding user needs, comfort, car machine display mode and other aspects, Li Auto is worth learning.”

It is worth mentioning that although Leapmotor regards Li Auto as the “benchmark” model for Leap Motor C10, the prices of the two models are not in the same range. Li Auto L7’s price range is 319,800-379,800 yuan, while Leapmotor C10’s price is 128,800-165,800 yuan. Comparatively speaking, Li Auto L7’s price is much higher than Leapmotor C10. Just from the price point of view, Zerun C10’s direct competitor may be BYD Song PLUS.

In Zhu Jiangming’s view, Leapmotor and BYD’s models belong to different products. “Leapmotor C10 is at least benchmarked against BYD Tang, which is also a mid-size SUV, with a starting price of 179,800 yuan. Because Leapmotor C10 is higher than Song PLUS in terms of intelligence level and other aspects. From the perspective of user cost and driving experience, "I think range extender (technology) products have more advantages.  Low endurance plug-in hybrid (i.e. plug-in hybrid) products are not economical, and the experience is not that good, not to mention making them more intelligent .” Zhu Jiangming said.

Photo/Kong Zesi (file photo)

Some also believe that by increasing the product size and configuration, and selling at the price of a lower-level model, Leapmotor has labeled its products as “cost-effective”. This kind of “low price and high configuration” approach, although it has a positive effect on attracting users, also dilutes Leapmotor’s profits to some extent.

Data shows that in the third quarter of 2023, Leapmotor’s net loss was about 986 million yuan, and its free cash flow was still negative. Against this background, Leapmotor is pursuing scale effects to reverse the situation. And the fast pace of product renewal is one of the key measures.

At the same time, Leapmotor is also adjusting its sales channels, adding 4S shop service centers, reducing and eliminating inefficient supermarket stores.

In addition, the overseas market is also an important source of sales growth for Leapmotor this year. It is learned that the newly launched Leapmotor C10 is a global car model, and launching this new car to the overseas market has also been put on the agenda.

Zhu Jiangming revealed that in the third quarter of this year, Leapmotor C10 and T03 will be exported to the European market one after another. “Our sales model in overseas markets is the same as in China, which is to build marketing networks and service systems locally, and also involve financial, insurance and other integrated businesses. It takes time to build networks in the early stage, but once they are expanded, the speed will be faster.” Zhu Jiangming told NBD, “All EU certifications will not be completed until the third quarter of this year, so the fourth quarter is the main sales stage. Our goal is to develop more than 200 sales outlets this year, start selling from September, and achieve monthly sales expectations of 6,000 to 10,000 units.”