Were you sitting there, fingers crossed, hunched in anticipation of yet another Chinese car brand arriving in the Irish car market? Well, then we have some good news — Leapmotor is coming in September.
Leapmotor isn’t entirely Chinese, however — it’s actually the product of a joint venture between Leapmotor itself, and the vast car-making conglomerate that is Stellantis. That being the case, it’s only natural that the Irish importer for Leapmotor is going to be Gown Auto, which already represents eight other Stellantis Group brands here, including Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Opel, and Peugeot (and Honda, which is nothing to do with Stellantis at all).
Michael Dwan, Managing Director at Gowan Group said: “Gowan Group is very pleased to announce the imminent arrival of Leapmotor in Ireland. Leapmotor aims to become Ireland’s best value electric vehicle brand by offering high levels of specification and advanced technology as standard. Leapmotor’s core philosophy is that customers should not have to compromise on quality or features for affordability, delivering a true value without compromise proposition for Irish car buyers.”
Leapmotor is big in China, of course, and has been one of the fastest growing new brands there. Its first models will arrive in Ireland in September of this year, and they couldn’t be more different. The first is the small and very cheap T03, which looks like a car trying to wear a Fiat Panda Halloween mask, has a 37kWh battery, and has a range of only 265km. It will be a rival to the likes of the Hyundai Inster and the Dacia Spring, but Leapmotor is promising high-end specifications for the dinky EV, including a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, and a modern 10.1-inch infotainment system.
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At the other end of the scale is the C10 SUV, which is meant to be a premium-level car and a rival to the likes of BMW and Audi.
It boasts a 69.9kWh battery and a range of up to 500km, but possibly of more interest to Irish buyers will be a long-range plug-in hybrid which boasts a range of up to 145km on battery power, and then 900km on a combined battery and fuel tank.
It will be notably well-equipped, and will come as standard with electrically adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, 20-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a 360-degree surround view camera, heated steering wheel, a 12-speaker premium Hi-Fi system, a 14.6-inch central touchscreen, and a ten-inch digital instrument cluster.
Prices haven’t been announced yet, but the T03 will have to start below €20,000 if it’s to compete with Dacia and Hyundai. The C10’s quasi-premium ambitions make for a cloudier picture, but realistically it’s going to have to be priced between €40,000 and €50,000 to compete with mainstream opposition, not to mention the more established Chinese brands such as BYD.
Leapmotor will certainly be tapping into some Irish market experience. The managing director position will be held by James Brooks, who will be doubling up on running Leapmotor with his existing duties as managing director of Opel’s operations in Ireland.
Also promoted from within Gowan Auto is Stephen McGrath, formerly Head of Product and Pricing at Peugeot and DS Ireland, who has been appointed Brand Manager.
Mark Brennan, formerly Marketing Executive at DS Ireland, has been appointed Marketing Manager at Leapmotor. Emma Toner will be Marketing Director for Leapmotor, in addition to her current brand, Opel.
As is ever the case with these new brands, ambition is not in short supply. Leapmotor says that by 2028 it will have expanded to an eight-car lineup, including a third model for 2025 — the B10 compact crossover.
The B10 and the T03 are already being built in Europe (the B10 in Slovakia, the T03 in Poland) which means they will be able to duck around the EU’s Chinese EV tariffs, while the status of the C10 is less clear, although Stellantis is known to be looking for more factory space in the EU for a third Chinese EV.
