By Nick Carey and Gilles Guillaume MUNICH (Reuters) -Leapmotor unveiled the B05, a new hatchback model, at the Munich car show on Monday, adding another product to the Chinese EV maker's lineup in
China's Leapmotor launches EV hatchback at Munich car show, boosting European...
By Nick Carey and Gilles Guillaume
MUNICH (Reuters) -Leapmotor unveiled the B05, a new hatchback model, at the Munich car show on Monday, adding another product to the Chinese EV maker's lineup in Europe as competition heats up for affordable electric models.
The B05 will be delivered in Europe from the second quarter of 2026 after its launch in China in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said, without disclosing price details.
CEO Zhu Jiangming, at the auto show, described the model as a sporty coupe for young people that will come in six colours, including Lightning Yellow and Morgan Pink.
The new EV hatchback joins Leapmotor's SUV B10, the price of which starts at just under 30,000 euros ($35,175) in Germany. The larger C10 is priced from 36,000 euros, while the T03 city car has a starting price below 19,000 euros.
With high price tags a barrier to broader EV adoption in Europe, automakers have been racing to bring models priced under 25,000 euros to the market.
Leapmotor is 21% owned by Stellantis, which bought that stake in October 2023. They are part of a joint venture that gives the Franco-Italian-American car group exclusive rights to export, sell and manufacture Leapmotor EVs outside Greater China.
Stellantis has been rolling out Leapmotor sales across Europe, including in the United Kingdom, and will start sales in South Africa this month.
Leapmotor, a profitable upstart automaker in China's crowded EV market, said earlier this year it would supply an EV platform to Chinese state-owned automaker FAW for its premium Hongqi brand.
($1 = 0.8529 euros)
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
