Where is Leapmotor's Ceiling?

【Lead: On May 16, 200,000 Leapmotor older vehicles received free city pilot assist overnight; on May 18, the MPV D99 interior was unveiled, beginning to advance into the high-end market. When competitors are still dividing classes using intelligent driving and configurations, Leapmotor chooses to make them standard equipment. After monthly sales of 70,000, the question is no longer "how many can be sold", but "is the ceiling high enough".】

Author: Cai Yan

Although sales rank at the top among new forces, Leapmotor reported a loss of 390 million yuan in the first quarter, making the goal of achieving 5 billion yuan net profit this year much harder to reach. When the A10 becomes popular, D99 aims for the high-end, and the second brand is ready to launch, this car company that started relying on "cost-performance" has achieved rapid scale expansion but encountered a bottleneck in profits, and it is working hard to change the situation.

▲ Leapmotor rises to the first echelon relying on independent research and development technology

From "Cost-Performance Catfish" to "Head Goose of New Forces"

Four years ago, Leapmotor was still in the stage of "monthly sales of thousands of units", with attention and volume far less than "NIO, Xpeng, and Li Auto". The arrival of the turning point was much faster than the industry anticipated. In 2025, Leapmotor delivered 596,600 vehicles for the whole year, topping the annual sales list of domestic new force car makers; in the first quarter of 2026, it delivered 110,200 vehicles, ranking first among new forces again; in April alone, monthly sales exceeded 70,000 units, setting a new brand historical record.

▲ Leapmotor's April monthly delivery volume exceeded 70,000 units

Whole-domain independent research is the origin of all Leapmotor stories. Currently, Leapmotor has established 17 parts factories, with the ratio of self-developed and self-made accounting for 65% of total vehicle costs, covering core links such as electronic control modules, lamp controllers, intelligent driving chips, and electric drive systems. With 65% of the total vehicle cost controlled in its own hands, this vertical integration capability means that when the industry is generally constrained by supplier price hikes, Leapmotor can hold the cost initiative in its own hands; when competitors are still using third-party intelligent driving solutions, Leapmotor is already able to push the nationwide city pilot assist function for free to 200,000 older car owners and promises permanent free usage. This major OTA on May 16 pushed urban main roads, elevated roads, roundabouts, and other all-scenario city pilot assist capabilities to the old B series, Lafa5, and 2026 C series LiDAR version models. Leapmotor proved one thing with actions: Intelligent driving is not a "selling point" for new cars, but an "entitled right" for old users.

At the same time, Leapmotor's channel strategy and product strategy formed an exquisite cooperation. As of January this year, Leapmotor's domestic sales and service outlets exceeded 1,000, covering 295 cities. But unlike the practice of traditional car companies concentrating stores in first-tier cities, Leapmotor's channels are highly "sunk" to fifth-tier cities. The sinking market is not Leapmotor's "supplementary channel", but Leapmotor's basic plate. This "surrounding cities by villages" approach has allowed Leapmotor to establish user cognition and channel barriers early in areas where mainstream new forces have not yet reached.

From the product level, Leapmotor has built a complete product ladder from the A platform to the D platform. The A10 is priced at 65,800 - 86,800 yuan, yet pulls hardcore configurations such as LiDAR, spot-to-spot pilot assist, and Qualcomm dual flagship chips into the market under 100,000 yuan. Market response was extremely enthusiastic, daily production capacity has reached the level of thousands of units, entering the "Daily Thousand Club" that only a few hit products like Tesla Model Y have reached. The other end is the first mid-to-large MPV D99, positioned as technological luxury, equipped with dual 8797 chips, 1280 TOPS assisted driving computing power, 800V high-voltage platform, second-row seats support rotation function. Quickly attracted industry attention after the interior release. One end is entry-level ultimate cost-performance, one end is brand bearing towards high-end breakthrough, the middle relies on C and B series to form a stable basic plate — this "blossoming at both ends, supporting in the middle" matrix structure is the structural support for Leapmotor to break through 70,000 units in a single month.

▲ Leapmotor A10 brings high-end configurations down to the 100,000 yuan level market

Competition Intensifies, Can Leapmotor Sales Continue to Rise?

In 2026, the elimination competition in the automotive industry intensified, Leapmotor founder Zhu Jiangming straightly said "There is no future without scale".

However, the current awkward situation for Leapmotor is that volume increases but profit decreases. Its Q1 revenue was 10.82 billion yuan, delivered 110,200 vehicles, overseas sales 40,900 vehicles, year-on-year growth of 442%, accounting for 37.1% of total sales, setting a new historical record. Affected by the increased proportion of low-price models, the gross profit margin dropped sharply from 14.9% in the same period last year to 9.4%, net loss 390 million yuan. However, management maintains Q2 guidance of 240,000-250,000 vehicles, annual sales 1 million vehicles and 5 billion yuan net profit target unchanged. Behind it is the confidence in product rhythm — A10 daily production capacity will reach over 1,000 units, May expected 26,000 units, June aiming for 30,000 units; The D99 about to be pre-sold is positioned as a 300,000 yuan level technological luxury MPV, extended range version equipped with 800V high-voltage platform, pure electric version equipped with 1000V high-voltage platform, and equipped with dual 8797 chips, will become a new growth pole.

Secondly, the launch of the second brand opens up new space. Leapmotor Vice President Li Tengfei confirmed at the Q1 financial report meeting that the new brand will debut as early as the end of 2026 or 2027, expected to launch in mid-2027, aiming at the 300,000 yuan and above high-end market, adopting an independent sales network, helping Leapmotor transform from "sales champion" to "full-spectrum giant".

Furthermore, supply chain independence and global layout are the moat. Whole-domain self-research covers 65% of total vehicle costs, especially valuable against the background of shortages in components such as memory. Leapmotor International has already covered 35 countries, 2026 export target 100,000-150,000 vehicles, promoting localized production of factories in Spain and Malaysia, overseas business has already turned a profit. Leapmotor's true ceiling is not in the delivery numbers, but in whether it can continuously build a "Technology-Product-Brand" positive cycle. The May 16 OTA pushed city pilot assist for free to 200,000 older cars, covering B series, Lafa5, and 2026 C series LiDAR models, achieving nationwide opening (2024 C series LiDAR version will follow in the third quarter); meanwhile, Leapmotor plans to achieve "spot-to-spot" high-level intelligent driving push in the third quarter, intelligent driving team over 700 people, training servers nearly 600 units, achieving full-chain self-research. Converting whole-domain self-research into OTA push, stunning products, and cost pricing, "Good but not expensive" is indeed the deepest moat, Leapmotor's ceiling is far from arriving.

▲ Leapmotor D99 attacks the high-end market

Comment

Leapmotor's immediate task is not about sales, but whether it can find a balance pivot between the original intention of "Good but not expensive" and brand upward, especially against the background of turning from profit to loss in the first quarter and a sharp drop in gross profit margin. When the second brand aims for the market above 300,000 yuan, the underlying capabilities of whole-domain self-research will undergo more severe premium testing. Breaking this hurdle, Leapmotor can truly evolve from "sales champion" to "value benchmark".

(This article is original to "Heyuan Yueche", unauthorized reproduction is prohibited)