(Yicai) Aug. 25 -- Leapmotor Technology expects overseas sales to reach 200,000 vehicles this year, up from the 100,000 to 150,000 targeted at the start of 2026, as the Chinese electric carmaker taps partner Stellantis’ global production and distribution networks, its vice president said.

Leapmotor has also raised the bar for next year, aiming to sell 350,000 to 400,000 vehicles abroad, Li Tengfei, who is also chief financial officer, said on the Hangzhou-based startup’s first-half earnings conference call late yesterday.

International expansion is becoming increasingly important as competition intensifies in China’s crowded electric vehicle market. Leapmoto had previously targeted a total of one million car sales this year, alongside annual net profit of CNY5 billion (USD686.9 million).

For now, the company is putting market share ahead of profitability abroad. Leapmotor wants to take advantage of a crucial period of international expansion, Li said, adding that while profitability matters, volume growth takes priority.

Stellantis' spare overseas production capacity gives Leapmotor flexibility in deciding where to build vehicles. They can weight available production capacity, local manufacturing costs, and regional component‑supply conditions, he pointed out.

Leapmotor sold 457,800 cars in the first seven months of this year, including 113,000 overseas. Its global monthly sales topped 101,300 last month, making it China's first EV startup to sell over 100,000 in a single month and putting it in direct competition with mainstream carmakers.

Leapmotor International, the joint sales venture between Leapmotor and Stellantis, has been key to driving its rapid overseas sales growth. Drawing on the European firm's dealer network, the JV has substantially cut costs and shortened the timeline for developing a standalone sales network.

As of June 30, Leapmotor International has opened more than 1,000 sales and after‑sales service outlets across more than 45 markets covering Europe, South America, North America, the Asia‑Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Over 900 of these are in Europe.

‘Key Strategic Direction’

All of Leapmotor's overseas sales come from the export of complete vehicles from China. Stellantis' Zaragoza plant in Spain will likely commence complete knock-down assembly of the Leapmotor B10 in October and start trial production of the B05 within the year.

In addition, Stellantis' Goiânia plant in Brazil will serve as Leapmotor's assembly base for the South American market. According to executives at the Chinese company, the factory will likely begin mass production of the B10 in the second half of next year.

"Localized production has always been a key strategic direction for Leapmotor's global expansion," Li noted. The shift from complete vehicle exports to localized production is a reactive measure against European Union tariff barriers and a proactive move to establish a long-term presence in overseas markets, he said, adding that Europe is expected to remain the firm's main overseas market next year, while the share of sales in South America will increase.

Localized production helps cut tariff costs, but overseas component costs are markedly higher than in China, Li stressed. As a result, existing gross margin improvements from offshore production have fallen short of initial expectations, he said.

The value of overseas localized production will materialize gradually, Li pointed out. "Localization will drive improvements in corporate net profit not in the immediate term, but in the near future,” he said.

In a financial report released the same day, Leapmotor said net profit shrank 30 percent to CNY210 million (USD28.9 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, while revenue surged 57 percent to CNY38.1 billion (USD5.2 billion).

Leapmotor first turned a profit in the fourth quarter of 2024, but has alternated between quarterly profits and losses since then. It has been profitable for three consecutive six-month periods since the first half of last year.

Stellantis owns 19 percent of Leapmotor. The European auto giant has a 51 percent stake in Leapmotor International, which was set up to handle sales outside of the Chinese mainland.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev