Leapmotor: the group, its brands and who controls it
Facts checked
- Private
- SEHK 9863
Leapmotor was set up in Hangzhou in December 2015 by Zhu Jiangming and Fu Liquan, who had earlier co-founded the video-surveillance maker Dahua Technology. That background shows in the company's approach: it designs and makes much of its own electronics and electrical hardware in-house rather than buying it in, which it gives as the reason it can price against larger rivals. Its first car, the S01 coupe, went on sale in 2019; the T03 city car and the C-series SUVs and saloons followed.
In October 2023 Stellantis paid about €1.5bn for roughly a fifth of the company, becoming its largest outside shareholder. The two then created Leapmotor International, 51% Stellantis and 49% Leapmotor, which holds the exclusive right to sell and build Leapmotor cars everywhere outside Greater China and uses Stellantis's existing dealer networks. Sales began in Europe in September 2024 and spread to South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa; Mexico followed in April 2026.
Deliveries reached 596,555 in 2025, more than double the 2024 figure, and the company reported its first annual net profit — about RMB 540m on revenue of RMB 64.72bn. On 29 December 2025 a FAW investment arm bought about 5% of the company for RMB 3.744bn, which diluted Stellantis's holding to just under 19%.
In May 2026 Stellantis and Leapmotor said they intended to widen the partnership: adding a line at Stellantis's Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza, Spain for an Opel electric SUV and for Leapmotor's B10, and looking at transferring the Villaverde plant in Madrid to Leapmotor International's Spanish subsidiary.
Key facts
| Chinese name | 零跑 “ling-PAO” 零 líng 'zero' + 跑 pǎo 'to run' — 'running on zero'. The English name Leapmotor is not a translation of it. |
|---|---|
| Legal name | Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., Ltd. |
| Ownership | Private |
| Founded | 2015 by Zhu Jiangming and Fu Liquan |
| Headquarters | Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China |
| Vehicles | Cars |
| Listings | SEHK 9863 |
| 2025 deliveries | 596,555 vehicles, up 103% on 2024 |
| 2025 revenue | RMB 64.72bn, up 101.3% |
| 2025 net profit | About RMB 540m — the first annual profit since sales began in 2019, against a RMB 2.82bn loss in 2024 |
| 2025 gross margin | 14.5% |
| 2025 deliveries outside China | 67,052 vehicles, through about 900 sales and service outlets in 40 countries |
| Stellantis holding | About 21% bought in October 2023 for €1.5bn, diluted to about 19% after FAW's December 2025 purchase |
| FAW investment | A FAW arm bought 74,832,245 shares (about 5%) at RMB 50.03 each on 29 December 2025, RMB 3.744bn in total |
| Employees | 9,310 (2024) |
Ownership tree
Who controls Leapmotor?
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council owns Dongfeng Motor Group at 100% since 2003.
Dongfeng Motor Corporation is a central state-owned enterprise whose shareholding SASAC holds. Dongfeng told the Hong Kong exchange in February 2025 that a planned restructuring might change its controlling shareholder but would not change its ultimate controller, SASAC.
Dongfeng Motor Group holds a stake in Stellantis N.V. at 1.58% since April 2014.
Dongfeng took a stake in PSA in 2014 as part of the capital increase that recapitalised the French company, and has reduced it in stages: a sell-down of 36.1 million shares in September 2021, then a buyback in November 2023 in which Stellantis repurchased 50 million shares for EUR 934 million, leaving Dongfeng with 49.2 million shares, or 1.58% of the share capital. Any change after November 2023 was not verified for this entry.
Stellantis N.V. holds a stake in Leapmotor at 21% since October 2023.
Stellantis paid about €1.5bn in October 2023 to become Leapmotor's largest single shareholder, and its own release of 8 May 2026 still describes the holding as approximately 21%. A FAW investment arm bought about 5% of Leapmotor on 29 December 2025, which secondary reporting says diluted Stellantis to about 19%. Both figures are given because the primary and secondary sources disagree; Stellantis does not control Leapmotor either way.
| Holder | What it is | Share | Since | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAW Group | holds a stake in | 5% | 29 December 2025 | FAW Equity Investment (Tianjin), an arm of the state-owned FAW Group, bought 74,832,245 Leapmotor shares at RMB 50.03 each on 29 December 2025 — about 5% of the company for RMB 3.744bn. Leapmotor said half the proceeds would go to research and development. |
| Zhu Jiangming | holds a stake in | not published | December 2015 | Co-founder, chairman, president and chief executive of Leapmotor. His personal shareholding was not verified for this record. |
Stakes and ventures Leapmotor holds
These are holdings that are not outright ownership, so they are not in the tree above. A joint venture is a third company the two parents built together: the percentage is a share of that venture, never a holding in the partner.
| Holding | What it is | Share | Since | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leapmotor International B.V. | runs a joint venture with | 49% of the joint venture | October 2023 | Leapmotor holds the minority 49% of the export venture that Stellantis controls; the arrangement means Leapmotor does not sell its own cars outside Greater China. |
Brands
| Brand | Held | Origin | Founded | Models | Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 零跑Leapmotor | directly | China | 2015 | 4 | 16 |
Joint ventures
| Venture | Partner | Since | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leapmotor International B.V. | Stellantis N.V. | October 2023 | 51% Stellantis / 49% Leapmotor. It holds the exclusive rights to sell and to manufacture Leapmotor products outside Greater China, and sells through Stellantis dealer networks. |
Leapmotor: questions people ask
- Who owns Leapmotor?
- Leapmotor is a Hong Kong-listed company (SEHK 9863). Stellantis is its largest outside shareholder with about 19%, down from about 21% after FAW bought roughly 5% in December 2025; founder Zhu Jiangming is chairman and chief executive. Stellantis does not control the company.
- Is Leapmotor Chinese?
- Yes. It was founded in Hangzhou in 2015 and the cars are engineered and built in China. Sales outside Greater China run through Leapmotor International, a joint venture that Stellantis controls with 51%.
- What does Leapmotor mean in Chinese?
- The Chinese name is 零跑 (Língpǎo), 'zero' plus 'to run'. The English name Leapmotor is a separate coinage, not a translation.
- Where are Leapmotors built?
- In China, at the company's own plants in Zhejiang. Assembly of the T03 ran at Stellantis's Tychy plant in Poland from June 2024 to March 2025, and B10 production was announced for Zaragoza in Spain.
Related
Sources for Leapmotor
- CarNewsChina, Stellantis-backed Leapmotor reaches annual profit for the first time. Read . 2025 results, overseas deliveries, and the FAW share purchase of 29 December 2025
- Stellantis N.V. (via GlobeNewswire), Stellantis And Leapmotor Announce Their Intention To Take Their Strategic Partnership To The Next Level. Read . Company statement of 8 May 2026: the October 2023 stake, the 51/49 joint venture and the Spanish plants
- Wikipedia, Leapmotor. Read . Founding, founders, listing, employee count, delivery history and the diluted Stellantis stake