Leapmotor wants to become the automotive industry’s Apple and is creating an entirely new car brand to do so
Leapmotor no longer wants to be just another fast-growing Chinese electric vehicle maker. At its 2026 Technology Day, company founder and CEO Zhu Jiangming announced that Leapmotor is creating a second car brand, whose first model will reach the market in the fourth quarter of 2027. It will be based on the new LEAP 5.0 architecture.
The new brand will be the first to receive LEAP 5.0 technology
Zhu compared the company’s goal to Apple. The idea is not to invent every technology from scratch, but to combine existing solutions into a whole that changes the user experience. Speaking about the new brand’s first car, he said he wants to achieve the same kind of leap that smartphones made after feature phones.
At the heart of this ambition is LEAP 5.0. Leapmotor’s current top-end technology already uses a highly centralised electronic architecture. For example, the D19 uses two Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite platforms to integrate the cockpit, driver-assistance systems, body functions and connectivity into a single system.
LEAP 5.0 is intended to take the next step even further. However, Leapmotor has not yet released full technical details, so there is no reason to speak of a revolution before the company demonstrates what the new architecture can actually do.
Leapmotor is growing at both the lower-priced and higher-priced ends
Creating a new brand is noteworthy because Leapmotor already has an exceptionally broad model strategy. Its A-, B-, C- and D-series range from small cars to the D19 luxury SUV, which is more than 5.25 metres long. The D19 uses a 1,000V electrical system, a battery of up to 115 kWh, and all-wheel drive with two or three electric motors.
Therefore, a second brand does not simply reflect a need for a more expensive Leapmotor. Rather, a separate name provides an opportunity to create a product and user experience more clearly distinct from the current “Technology for All” image.
Stellantis makes the plan particularly interesting for Europe. The group acquired around 21 per cent of Leapmotor in 2023, while their joint venture, Leapmotor International, is 51 per cent owned by Stellantis. This company is responsible for Leapmotor’s sales and production outside Greater China. In 2025, Leapmotor shipped more than 40,000 cars to Europe, while its sales and service network grew to more than 850 locations.
That does not yet mean the new brand will definitely come to Europe. Leapmotor has not announced its international sales plans. However, Stellantis’s existing infrastructure makes expansion in Europe considerably easier than it is for most new Chinese car brands.
The “automotive industry’s Apple” still has to prove itself
China’s EV market currently has no shortage of manufacturers promising to rethink the car. Leapmotor’s difference is that it already has rapidly growing production volumes, its own technology and a substantial international sales network through Stellantis.
The new brand’s first model is expected to reach the market in the fourth quarter of 2027. Before then, Leapmotor must show whether LEAP 5.0 is genuinely a new technological leap or simply another EV platform with a flashy name.
