Insiders report that large-scale assembly of the Chinese electric hatchback in the Polish city of Tychy will be established in the second quarter of this year as part of a joint venture Leapmotor International, majority owned by Stellantis Corporation.
The puzzle is interesting: earlier this week we reported that Stellantis is going to fuse an old petrol Fiat 500 from Poland to a new plant in Algeria this coming summer, because this model does not comply with the new EU cybersecurity rules and will soon leave the European market. To replace the old Fiat 500, a petrol conversion of the new electric Fiat 500e is being prepared, but it will appear at best at the end of 2025 and will be produced at the Mirafiori plant in Turin (Italy). Well, today it became clear which model will replace the old Fiat 500 at the Polish plant in Tychy — the budget electric hatchback Leapmotor T03, Reuters reported this with reference to insiders.
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Let us recall that last fall Stellantis and Leapmotor announced long-term cooperation and the creation of a joint venture, Leapmotor International, for the sale and production of Chinese electric vehicles outside of China. A controlling stake (51%) of Leapmotor International shares belongs to Stellantis, and the CEO is appointed by Stellantis. Stellantis Corporation also promised to invest 1.5 billion euros in the Leapmotor company itself and will receive 20% of its shares, as well as two seats on its board of directors. We described the background of this deal and the history of Leapmotor in more detail in a separate article. Here we just note that Leapmotor will become, in fact, the 15th Stellantis brand, the other fourteen are Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall.
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The T03 hatchback is one of the earliest and most affordable Leapmotor models; it has been produced in China since 2020; last year its sales in its homeland amounted to 35,454 units. — This is about a quarter of Leapmotor's total sales. Last fall, deliveries of the Leapmotor T03 to France began through a local importer, who offers the Chinese electric hatchback for rent for only 99 euros per month without a deposit. Now Leapmotor International will handle local production and centralized sales in Europe. It is not yet known what the minimum price for a European-assembled Leapmotor T03 will be, but as a guide you can take the Dacia Spring, which is comparable in class, which is supplied to Europe from China and costs less than 20,000 euros in the basic configuration.
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Overall length of Leapmotor T03 — 3620 mm, width — 1652 mm, height — 1605 mm, wheelbase — 2400 mm. The front suspension is McPherson type, the rear is semi-independent with a transverse torsion beam. A single electric motor is located on the front axle and rotates the front wheels.
The interior is simple but neat; the rear two-seater sofa has adjustable headrests, and not “stubs” fused with the backrests, as on other cheap Chinese hatchbacks. The instrument screen is 8-inch, multimedia screen is 10.1-inch. Trunk volume — 210 l, with the rear seat backs folded — 508 l.
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In China, the Leapmotor T03 is currently offered in three versions. The base T03 200 for 49,900 yuan (6,340 euros at current exchange rates) has a maximum output of the electric motor of 54 hp. and 96 Nm, battery capacity — 21.6 kWh, range on one charge — 200 km (hereinafter according to the CLTC cycle). Wheels are 14-inch, rear brakes are drum.
On the average version T03 310 for 59,900 yuan (7,610 euros), the output of the electric motor is increased to 75 hp. and 114 Nm, battery capacity — up to 31.9 kWh, range on one charge — 310 km. On this version, the rear brakes are already disc, and the wheels are 15-inch.
The top version T03 403 for 69,900 yuan (8,880 euros) has the most powerful electric motor (109 hp). s., 158 Nm) and the largest battery (41.3 kWh), the range on one charge is 403 km. The top version also has the most powerful on-board charger at 6.6 kW, while the younger versions have half as much — 3.3 kW.
The European version of the Chinese hatchback will obviously receive much richer equipment in terms of safety, since in China the Leapmotor T03 has only one airbag and does not have modern electronic driver assistants — hence the price will be under 20,000 Euro. If it comes out cheaper, it will be a big victory for Stellantis managers.
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