The Business Car Files
Above: Leapmotor’s UK fleet plan taps into Stellantis’ network, competitive pricing, and high-spec models while protecting residual values.
spec. Which, as a 40% taxpayer, they’ll be paying under £40 per month BIK.
“I think we’ll bring new customers to the brand as well. I’m really pleased we’ve gone for this high- specification approach in the UK – it’s different to the rest of Europe, and I think it’s been well received by the residual value setters, and dealers – because specification in the car industry has got super complicated!
“Most fleet drivers want to do the right thing, it’s just not easy to do the right thing because the average household income is strained, things are going up in price, and electrification is more expensive – whereas it doesn’t need to be with us. “Leapmotor gives Stellantis and our dealers an enabler to sell a vehicle at a price point where they could have lost it to a competitor. So, it keeps these fleet drivers within the Stellantis stable, and we can hopefully sell them vehicles in the future. “We’re trying to make the specification simple; buyers will need to be open to a new badge, but the difference between ours and others, is the Stellantis parentage which no other Chinese brand currently has. I think that’s what fleets want – that backup.” But what about getting the message out to fleets, we ask Dally. He says: “We’ve worked very closely with CAP, and the other residual value setters. They’re going out to Italy at the end of the month, to drive some other cars as well.
“Wherever we have a Stellantis fleet relationship today, Leapmotor will be integrated into the mix. And we will particularly be proactive in Salary Sacrifice (SalSac), which is a real opportunity for these models. By the end of March, we’ll be fully integrated. “We’ve had cars in the showrooms for a couple of months now, our launch date is March 1st, the
dealers were trained a few weeks ago. We first showed the cars at a Stellantis ride and drive event which was held last September, and the Leapmotor models were the ones driven the most. We then followed that up with a factual and fleet event in December, which were well attended, and the feedback received was strong.”
Holding on to the simplicity, Dally tells us is the fleet plan for the rest of 2025. He says: “We’ve made it super-simple for the dealers and customers, so it will be trying to hold on to the simplicity. We’ve got another C-SUV model that will be with us before the end of this year and is perhaps even more suitable for Europe than the C10.
“I think that fleet deals will be a mix of dealers and centrally. What I won’t be doing, is any short- cycle business – because I really need to protect the residual value! We will do Motability, and I think that will be a mix of models – we’re currently supplying them information, so we’ll be in there at the latest by Q2.
Fleet will play a strong role in our success, but we need to build trust and credibility. We can do this via the Stellantis relationship, but equally, buyers want peace of mind, and residuals are so important. The minute you blow them, it’s going to cost you more on every car you sell - because the overall residual market for BEVs is difficult now.”
Above: The Leapmotor T03 offers a fully-specced, small car EV alternative for £15,995
www.businesscar.co.uk | March/April 2025 | 35
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