Leapmotor makes a high-profile entry into the luxury car segment.
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Author | Chai Xuchen
Editor | Wang Xiaojuan
Pudong Art Museum beneath the Oriental Pearl Tower has long been a synonym for trends, fashion, and street culture, and also one of Shanghai’s most important commercial hubs. It has now become a show stage for “the Uniqlo of the car world” — Leapmotor.
On the evening of October 16, the first model of the Leapmotor D Series, the D19, and its ambassador Fei Xiang appeared by the Huangpu River — an area usually reserved for limited edition Mercedes Benz G-Class, Lincoln, Jaguar Land Rover, and others. At this tech launch without final price announcement, Leapmotor showed off all the technology and top-level hardware it has accumulated over the past ten years in one display.
Chairman Zhu Jiangming benchmarked the D19 against premium new energy vehicles in the million-yuan class like Zunjie S800, Zeekr 001FR, and Tesla Model S, and used this to declare their ambition to “create the flagship of flagships.”
As a flagship model, the D19 firstly makes a statement with its size. The car is over 5.2 meters long, nearly 2 meters wide, with a wheelbase of over 3.1 meters — a standard large SUV. Its appearance also uses the “large pancake wheels” seen on the Maybach S-Class, flush windows, and two-tone body, also common on high-end luxury cars.
In terms of intelligence, the D19 directly uses two of Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 8797 chips, capable of 640 TOPS. In driving control, D19 comes with air suspension and the Bosch One-box wire control braking system, and adopts CTC2.0 battery integration technology. Regarding other configurations and interior, this car is also supplied by major “big brand” suppliers.
It seems Leapmotor is also entering the luxury vehicle track to grab a share of the market.
However, in a post-event interview, Zhu Jiangming emphasized to Wallstreetcn News that, like other series, D Series will be “priced according to cost.”
According to previous market info, the D19 is positioned at 250,000–300,000 yuan, less than one-third the price of rivals. Zhu Jiangming again used Zegna and Uniqlo as examples, firmly stating Leapmotor rejects premium pricing, instead raising profit margin through efficiency, platformization, and large sales volumes.
Over the past three years, Leapmotor’s C and B series followed this strategy to become the number one new force, topping new force sales charts for seven consecutive months. But Zhu Jiangming remains clear-headed, saying Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto, Nezha, and WM Motor have all been market leaders before. “Temporary leadership is normal; the auto industry is a marathon and no one knows who will reach the end.”
Obviously, Leapmotor is not satisfied with just this; it has started to build its own brand system, completing all sections needed to become an automotive giant — using the D Series to stake a claim in the massive 200,000–300,000 yuan price range.
Zhu Jiangming hopes to prove that Leapmotor can enter higher-end price segments through the D Series and directly compete with mainstream brands like Li Auto and Aito on product experience.
While the D Series moves upmarket, next month Leapmotor will also launch the brand new Lafa5, targeting the youthful 100,000 yuan market. Leapmotor is extending both upwards and downwards from the B and C Series. Next year, Leapmotor will launch 2–3 products in the D Series and two in the A Series. The A, B, C, and D series will all come to market, covering the full 60,000–300,000 yuan price range.
Having achieved its first one-million unit milestone, this challenger is now racing furiously towards the next milestone. Perhaps a new giant, a new disruptor, is emerging. However, with today’s fierce elimination round, Leapmotor shoulders an even heavier burden; it must steady the helm to sail towards the ultimate shore.
Below is the full transcript of the interview with Leapmotor Chairman Zhu Jiangming, Senior VP Cao Li, and VP Zhou Ying:
Q: How will the Leapmotor brand tone change after launching the D platform? How will you maintain growth?
Zhu Jiangming: With the D Series, Leapmotor will still stick to the “good but not expensive” brand positioning. It’s not about pursuing high profit or becoming a luxury brand with the D Series — that’s not the point. But it is a high-end product, a flagship among flagships, with features others don’t have or do better. We aim to lead in technology, configuration, and performance, and make the D Series an industry benchmark. The product is luxurious, the price is not. D Series, like other series, is priced by cost.
For Q4, Leapmotor is optimistic. The full-year target of 500,000 units can definitely be achieved ahead of time. By 2026, in addition to the competitive B Series and products like Lafa5 and C Series, next year we’ll launch 2–3 D Series products and 2 A Series products. 2026 will be Leapmotor’s largest product year ever, and I believe Leapmotor’s sales growth is predictable.
Q: Many top suppliers are involved in D Series. How does Leapmotor ensure vehicles are priced at cost?
Zhu Jiangming: We’ve made a lot of innovations to achieve an excellent cost structure. For example, we partnered with ZF to develop the integrated electric drive and generator system, with one electric motor acting as both generator and motor, cutting several dozen kilograms and a few thousand RMB in cost. There are many such cases. Through these technical innovations, we achieve great cost structure without sacrificing performance or function.
Q: How does it feel to be “number one” now?
Zhu Jiangming: To quote Ren Zhengfei, “We never care about success, but always see problems and difficulties.” We are not qualified yet; Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto, Nezha, WM Motor have all been market leaders before. Temporary leadership is normal—the auto industry is a marathon and no one knows who will finish. We must keep working hard, addressing our weaknesses and developing our strengths to reach the finish.
Cao Li: Leapmotor has always been pragmatic and low-key. Our goal is to be a global world-class NEV enterprise. Whether we are number one depends on the long run.
Q: Leapmotor has long had a “thrifty engineer” image. Why did you use a brand ambassador this time?
Cao Li: Being thrifty isn’t contradictory to having an ambassador. Even while being prudent, we want to improve marketing efficiency. For D Series in particular, having an ambassador resonates with users, as an excellent celebrity aligns with Leapmotor’s spirit and can promote our car-making philosophy more efficiently.
Q: Please discuss the key to D19’s success from strategic, product, and marketing perspectives.
Zhu Jiangming: Leapmotor does not distinguish between luxury and non-luxury — just different configurations and sizes. Of course, our “9” series benchmarks all the best in configuration, handling, performance, texture, and design in the segment, aiming to be the best.
Q: Having reached 1 million vehicles in ten years, what share will the D Series have in the next 1 million?
Zhu Jiangming: Our sales success relies on technological innovation, comprehensive self-research, and self-manufacturing. Our strong tech foundation supports the D Series platform, allowing us to enter the next stage and make better products.
The D Series’ success depends on the product strength of D19 and future models — whether they can satisfy consumers and attract buyers. Leapmotor’s strategy is to rely on tech capability to make good products, then price them fairly.
Q: Competition in the “9” series is intense. For example, Galaxy M9 has dropped to 170,000–180,000 yuan. Will D19 go to around 200,000?
Cao Li: That’s not a rational point of view. If your cost is nearly 300,000 but you sell for 180,000, it doesn’t make sense. D Series’ high-end configuration costs won’t be low, but we are confident we’ll have the most competitive pricing at similar configurations. That’s always been Leapmotor’s product pricing strategy — you can’t just pick a car and compare by lowest price.
Q: Now that large batteries of 80 kWh are common, isn’t it a challenge to fit such a big battery in a range extender?
Cao Li: We want users to use electricity as much as possible for best experience and economy. But for the occasional long trips back home, we offer a small gas tank as backup, so there’s no need to queue for charging or worry.
There are technical challenges: range extender means having an engine system, gas tank, and pipelines taking up space. We innovated by first applying our CTC technology to the range-extended model, removing the battery upper cover and greatly increasing integration, fitting over 80 kWh in the space. Working with CATL, we used their high-efficiency battery cells.
This integration achieves excellent balance in energy density, space layout, body strength, and weight.
Q: Is Leapmotor’s market cap undervalued?
Zhu Jiangming: Market pricing has its logic. We don’t deliberately sustain the share price.
Q: Will there be improvements in profit margins, especially profitability, in the future?
Zhu Jiangming: Using clothing as an example: I’m wearing Zegna, which had net profits of about 750 million RMB last year, while Uniqlo had 17.6 billion RMB.
High-end brands have high gross margins — costs are just 20–30%, but rents are high as they have to be in top city malls and stores, and operating costs are high while sales volumes are low — that’s also their problem.
Leapmotor insists on mainstream products and not very high gross margins; our profit comes from scale. This year, we only barely passed break-even because of big R&D spending, ensuring technological leadership and enough cars for the market.
After crossing the break-even point, we are confident about profitability for the rest of the year. If sales grow further next year, R&D expenses will increase but slower than gross profit, so with bigger scale, profitability will be promising.
Q: Many brands are launching big-battery products; how will we stand out?
Zhu Jiangming: Range-extended models will not be high in number or grow very fast in the future. Only users who don’t mind spending extra money for a range extender to guarantee hassle-free holiday trips and avoid charging queues need it — but they want pure EV for daily use. So, range extenders must have large batteries.
After using the C16 range extender myself, with 280 km range (after correction about 200 km), that requires plugging in at home daily and unplugging before work — which is inconvenient for Shanghai or Beijing users.
So for range extenders, pure electric range must increase to allow charging only once or twice a week, ensuring real convenience. This is the future direction for such vehicles.
Q: Will you match high-end branding with channel expansion?
Cao Li: D Series doesn’t require extensive channel sinking. We’ll focus on major target markets and quality outlets in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and promising tier-one and two cities.
Q: Product launch rhythm is a common concern. Can you disclose any plans?
Cao Li: In December, there will be a 10th anniversary press event where Mr. Zhu will review development history, brand philosophy, and the next 10 years’ strategy, including showing more products and technology. Also, Lafa5 presale and launch is imminent.
Q: What prompted D19’s release timing?
Cao Li: D19’s debut is not a gift for the 10th anniversary, but because our technology, product strength, and user needs have reached the right stage. Also, high-end specs won’t be confined to the D Series; in future, A, B, C, D Series will all have best-in-class technology, materials, and partners in their segments.
Q: How does Leapmotor balance suppliers and in-house technology?
Zhu Jiangming: For chassis control, Bosch and ZF have decades of experience — especially with this generation’s Onebox and REPS, inherited from ICE vehicles. We could do it ourselves, but the investment-to-return ratio isn’t high, and it takes time. These are critical safety parts.
For critical and safety/reliability-related components, we use the very best suppliers. For other parts, we develop and produce in-house. For self-produced parts, only when our quality matches the best do we use them.
We will increasingly expand into high value-added components we were not good at, like this year, we mass produced our own A/C compressors, which are often a source of failures. Our compressor’s defect rate is much lower than previous suppliers.
In future, Leapmotor will expand self-research and self-production to high value-added core components; this year, we also mass produced seats, which reached 20,000–30,000 per month, partially replacing suppliers. This is a gradual process.
Q: What is Leapmotor’s domestic and overseas production capacity?
Cao Li: Our factories closely follow production plans to meet future sales targets.
As announced, the B10 will be locally produced in Europe, which is progressing smoothly. The D19, being a very large full-size model, will be produced in limited quantities overseas, so will not be prioritized for overseas production. If there’s demand, we’ll do some exports.
Q: Leapmotor’s strategy in chasing first-tier autonomous driving?
Cao Li: Our strategy on intelligent driving is to follow closely. Now, the general technical direction in the sector is becoming clearer; next year, D Series will be equipped with first-tier high-level ADAS. We believe next year will be a high-level autonomous driving breakout point and expect D Series to enter the leading group in H1.
We’ve invested heavily in ADAS in the last two years — it’s where most of our R&D resources go — so we’re closing the technology gap as fast as possible.
Zhu Jiangming: Leapmotor is not the fastest in many technologies, such as 800V high voltage. We started latest, but today, Leapmotor has the most 800V models in production. All C Series (C11, C10, C16) are already using 800V SiC fast charging.
Thanks to our full self-research capabilities, once a technology matures, we quickly implement it. Autonomous driving sector evolves rapidly — from high-definition maps, to mapless, to end-to-end, to segment end-to-end, to so-called VLA “large models”; every six months there's something new.
Q: Some think VLA is not essential and very demanding computationally; what’s Leapmotor’s view?
Zhu Jiangming: Whether it’s VA or VLA depends on current needs or the future. With VLA, you get more computation power, but at present there’s not a massive effect compared to VA. But as technology matures and develops, more headroom is always good for product upgrades in the future.
Q: Why debut Qualcomm 8797 in D19?
Zhu Jiangming: It’s mainly for continuity. Earlier, the 8295 could do both cockpit and ADAS, and Leapmotor achieved that. From 8295 to 8650 to 8797, our tech tools/platforms are consistent, which is a key reason.
The second reason is that Qualcomm is still a leader in cockpit chips. We believe integrated cockpit-driving is an important direction, so this is a good choice. As high-end ADAS develops, cockpit and driving may separate; but for mid-tier models, integrated chips will be a trend. Based on these reasons, we’ll stick with Qualcomm for now.
Q: D19 uses centralized domain control. What disruptive experience will this bring?
Zhu Jiangming: Centralized domain control is definitely a key trend — the powertrain system is becoming more highly integrated; the whole chassis will develop toward single-chip centralized control, big integration.
On top, cockpit and ADAS domain control is also where Leapmotor leads. Many peers follow this trend — you see the same at various product launches. This shortens wire harnesses, increases integration — it’s the trend, just like with smartphones: fewer chips, higher integration, lower power consumption, stronger performance. This is a major direction for smart cars in the future.
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