11:42 am, December 11, 2025
‘Not all Chinese brands will make it, but we will’: That is the bullish message from Leapmotor boss Damien Dally, who says the brand has a key role to play in the future of Stellantis.
The outfit launched its first cars back in March and is now preparing to put its electric C-Segment SUV – the C10 – on sale.
But with so many Chinese brands now arriving in the UK, what makes Leapmotor stand out?
Auto Trader predicts that there will be as many as 91 car brands in the UK by the end of next year, but Dally is adamant that Leapmotor will win out.
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer at the UK launch of the C10, he said: ‘We are the only one backed by world’s fourth largest automaker. What that gives is peace of mind that is impossible for anyone else to rival.
‘The next rival is probably XPeng at 17% owned by Volkswagen. They launched the same month as us and it would definitely be worth comparing our numbers.
‘I think the key thing is that this is a long-term thing for us. Our parts distribution is a key USP and we have all that knowledge and know-how from existing systems.
‘For every Kia and Hyundai, there is a Daewoo that everyone forgets. Not all will make it. We will.’
Since arriving in the UK, Leapmotor has largely utilised Stellantis’s existing dealer network. This has meant sharing space with the likes of Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat.
Dally says that, while the brand could agree deals with new retail partners in the future, the plan for the time being is continue with the current arrangement.
The firm currently has 60 UK retailers, which is set to rise to 70 by the end of the year. Over the course of 2026, it is anticipated that Leapmotor will have 105 retailers spread across the country.
Speaking about the brand’s retail network, Dally told Car Dealer: ‘We’re at 60 today and we are aiming for 70 by the end of the year – we might even get to 71.
‘They are all existing Stellantis dealers which I think is good for consumers because they know the areas and have been selling our existing brands for many years.
‘At the moment, our strategy is to keep Leapmotor within the Stellantis family. We could go outside and go to a dealer that doesn’t have Stellantis brands today but at the moment, our primary objective is to try and keep it within the dealers that we’ve got.’
‘Budget could work in our favour’
In a wide-ranging interview, Dally also gave his take on the recent Autumn Budget, in which the government announced a raft of automotive policies, chief among them a proposed charge of 3p per mile on EVs and a £650m boost to the Electric Car Grant.
With money tight, the former Alfa Romeo MD believes that more people could turn to Leapmotor, which puts budget at the core of what it is trying to achieve.
While the firm does not qualify for the government’s grant, it has achieved major success with its own ‘Leap-Grant’ which offers up to £3,750 off the price of a new EV.
Dally told Car Dealer: ‘We know that family finances are tight. We are actually saying spend less on your car and spend more on your life.
‘I think all the hullabaloo around the Budget in a way has played into our favour. We even ran some activity saying “Fed up of the Budget and Black Friday offers? Leapmotor is here to give great offers 24/7, 365 days of the year and you don’t have to wait for a Friday!”
‘We are here to dedicate value and give people more for their pound as it were.
‘On the whole EV pay-per-mile idea, I don’t really understand how it’s going to be administered. It is strange that the chancellor is giving £650m into buying them in the first instance and then announcing this at the same time.
‘Maybe it would have been better to have just changed the first registration fee or something like that but at the end of the day it is what it is.
‘At 3p per mile, I think the average usage is something like £600. We are offering a car for sub-£30,000 to a retail buyer, which is really great value.
‘Do I think it’s helpful? No. Do I think it’s a deal breaker for us? No.’
Aside from the Budget, the other big governmental talking point for carmakers remains ZEV mandate targets.
As a primarily electric brand, Leapmotor has a key role to play when it comes to ensuring that Stellantis continues to hit its targets.
Dally added: ‘We have a job to do for Stellantis and this is really important.
‘We are an electric vehicle brand first and then we will launch REEV [Range Extended Electric Vehicles]. Fundamentally we are electric.
‘Most of the Chinese brands have kind of done it the other way, even though everyone thinks they’re all electric, they are not.
‘We have probably done it the hard way round but we do have a job to do for the ZEV mandate for Stellantis and this year we have been an enabler for our dealers to sell more battery electric vehicles towards their targets.’
