Gasgoo Munich- "You have to dare to think before you can dare to act.""We've launched every car we needed to launch."Leapmotor launched the Lafa5 Ultra at Auto China 2026, pricing it between 118,800 and 124,800 yuan for a limited time. At a small media roundtable following the launch, Senior Vice President and COO Xu Jun, along with Founder and Chairman Zhu Jiangming, offered those two remarks. Together, they encapsulate Leapmotor's current state: ambitious targets supported by extensive activity.In the first quarter, Leapmotor delivered over 110,000 vehicles globally, including more than 40,000 in overseas shipments. "It basically met expectations, maybe slightly below," Zhu Jiangming assessed. That performance was enough to top the sales charts among new EV makers for the quarter.Public data shows Li Auto delivered 95,100 units in Q1 for second place, followed by NIO with 83,500 and Xiaomi with 78,600. A year ago, that top position did not belong to Leapmotor.Image source: Leapmotor (same below)But the momentum is increasing. The A10 launched on March 26 and the D19 on April 16, with both models accumulating orders that exceeded expectations. Zhu said orders came in "well above" projections, leaving the team confident in hitting its annual target of 1 million units.Rising orders, however, have exposed production bottlenecks. Cao Li, a senior vice president at Leapmotor, acknowledged that the A10 "did reach a capacity ceiling." The company is already taking steps to address this.Factories shifted to two-shift operations on April 25, lifting daily capacity above 1,000 units. The A-series production target is set at 26,000 to 27,000 units in May, climbing to 30,000 in June with a push for 35,000 to 36,000. To customers waiting for their cars, Cao had this message: "We ask for a little patience at the start, but we will accelerate deliveries."Full Product Rollout, Channels and Services Shift in SyncLeapmotor now sells eight or nine models, covering A0 to D segments. The lineup includes both pure electric and range-extended powertrains, spanning sedans, SUVs, and MPVs.Xu summarized the positioning of the four series in one phrase: "Use A to secure the foundation, D to target the premium sector, and B/C to reinforce the core." The A-series focuses on the mass market, the D-series is positioned as the "flagship of flagships," while the B and C series serve as the mid-range backbone, responsible for volume and profit stability.Leapmotor Senior Vice President and COO Xu JunMore models bring more challenges. Xu admitted this is a "massive challenge," requiring every product to establish its position while concurrently upgrading channel standards and service experiences. He offered an analogy: "We used to manage five products; now we might be managing eight or ten."Channel adjustments are underway. The D-series has set specific dealer thresholds, with Leapmotor selecting only about 600 certified stores from its national network of over 1,000 outlets. Flagship stores in key city landmarks are also in the planning stages. Still, the underlying channel structure remains unchanged: dealerships lead, supported by direct sales.Service adjustments are even more significant. This year, Leapmotor merged user operations with its after-sales system, making NPS (Net Promoter Score) a core metric for the entire company. Xu called it "a KPI more important than the targets themselves," reviewed personally by Zhu Jiangming every month. The shift reflects a key reality: repurchases and trade-ins from existing users have become a major source of orders for the D19.Leapmotor Founder and Chairman Zhu JiangmingZhu revealed a significant set of numbers: the D19 ranks second in orders across the lineup, trailing only the A10. Furthermore, "almost no one chooses the base trim," pushing the average transaction price above 250,000 yuan. To him, this signals trust in the Leapmotor brand—"you won't buy wrong, you won't regret it, and you won't be paying a stupidity tax."Xu summarized the strategy for moving the brand upmarket as "Three Hearts and Two Minds"—patience, determination, and perseverance, plus sincerity and respect.Over the longer cycle, Leapmotor's scale growth is undeniable. Public data shows that for the full year 2025, Leapmotor delivered 596,600 units—the highest among new forces. In the same period, XPENG and Li Auto were approximately 400,000, while NIO was just over 300,000.Leapmotor has already entered the top tier in sales volume. This year, with the strong sales of premium models like the D19, the brand's average selling price is climbing. Industry analysts suggest Leapmotor is shifting from a challenger relying on cost-effective expansion in lower-tier markets to a dual-strategy approach of "full price-band coverage plus technology export."Full-Stack Self-Development Cuts Costs, Overseas Growth AcceleratesLeapmotor has designated 2026 as the "Year of Intelligent Driving." The Lafa5 Ultra, priced around 120,000 yuan, comes equipped with a LiDAR and a Qualcomm 8650 driving assistance chip, offering city navigation assistance that does not rely on high-definition maps immediately. The A10, meanwhile, brings "door-to-door" driving assistance to the sub-100,000 yuan price bracket.How to balance cost with technology adoption? Zhu's answer is full-stack self-development. Starting with the early Lingxin 01 chip, Leapmotor has progressively achieved self-sufficiency across the board—from cameras and radar to corner radars and chips. He predicts the industry will move toward cockpit and driving integration and single-chip solutions, where Leapmotor is already pioneering the use of a single 8797 chip to handle both driving assistance and the cockpit.Zhu maintains a pragmatic view of the competition in driving algorithms. "Everyone is becoming more similar, more homogenized," he said. In his view, what ultimately differentiates competitors is cost control and platform capabilities.Leapmotor Senior Vice President Cao LiOverseas, Leapmotor's growth is exceeding market expectations. Its global deliveries exceeded 110,000 units in Q1, ranking first among new EV makers, while overseas shipments topped 40,000, a record high. Europe was particularly strong: registrations in 16 countries totaled 23,300 units, up 726.5% year-on-year. In the EU's 12 countries, pure electric sales reached about 17,000 units, putting Leapmotor in first place among Chinese EV brands.The benefits of international expansion are appearing directly in the financials. Leapmotor International turned a profit in just its second year, while most new EV makers are still incurring losses on their European operations.On the export model, Leapmotor did not take the old "trading" route of relying on large dealer groups as general agents. Instead, it operates local marketing, brand promotion, and channel building itself. Zhu mentioned at the meeting: Fei Xiang saw a Leapmotor commercial on his TV at home. That small detail suggests Leapmotor's overseas branding is starting to penetrate the daily lives of consumers.Local production is also progressing. In the fourth quarter, Leapmotor will start production at a Stellantis plant in Spain using CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits. Core components will come from China, while general parts like bodies and interiors will be sourced locally. Public data shows that Chinese brands including BYD, Leapmotor, and XPENG accounted for 9.4% of Europe's car sales in March this year. Leapmotor is a key player in this export trend, with monthly sales hitting 11,000 units in March.Zhu said the goal is to gradually shift the sales mix between China and overseas markets from 60-40 to 40-60 (40% domestic, 60% overseas). He noted that Leapmotor ranks among the top new forces in both the number of countries reached and store count in Europe, aiming to "ensure there are no weaknesses in any part of the chain."As many automakers announce new concepts like AI cars and solid-state batteries, Zhu's stance is pragmatic. "Leapmotor never announces technology just to generate publicity—technology that isn't practical or can't be mass-produced."He revealed that Leapmotor will hold a technology conference in the second half of the year to unveil new technologies in batteries, electric drive systems, and electronic control systems. It will be "technology that others don't have," with mass production slated for no later than 2028. Additionally, two new models, the D99 and A05, are set to launch this year.Over the next few months, delivery speed, user satisfaction, the pace of overseas expansion, and that technology conference in the second half will determine whether Leapmotor can successfully cross the 1 million-unit threshold.
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