Leapmotor This Half Year Turns Quiet Profit into an Industry Benchmark

Leapmotor has released its 2026 mid-year performance report. Net profit of 210 million yuan, revenue of 38.11 billion yuan, gross margin of 11.7%, cash on hand of 38.59 billion yuan, global deliveries of 356,487 units — if looking only at these figures, you might feel this is a standard report card from a mainstream automaker.

But when viewed together, the story is different.

This is Leapmotor's third consecutive half-year of profitability. Among new force players, few have achieved this. Meanwhile, Leapmotor's deliveries grew 60.8% year-over-year, firmly holding the top spot in sales among Chinese new forces. In the first 5 months of 2026 with published data for comparable terminal registrations, Leapmotor ranked fourth among global new energy passenger car brands — only players like BYD, Tesla, and Geely are ahead.

Do you remember how the industry evaluated Leapmotor a few years ago? Outsiders, half-price Li Auto, price butcher. Looking back now, those labels didn't actually hit the key points. What Leapmotor truly did was find a path of its own: full-domain in-house research to control costs, precise product definition positioning, rapid channel penetration, and returning every saved penny to users. It doesn't seek attention in the busiest battlefield, but every step lands where others pay little attention.

This half-year report is worth breaking down.

Sales and Profitability, Leapmotor Wants Both

First, let's look at sales. 356,487 units, first among new forces, up 60.8% year-over-year. The value of this achievement lies not in the numbers themselves, but in its structure — it's not propped up by a single hit product, but the combined strength of the entire product matrix.

From 60,000 to 300,000, from sedans to SUVs to MPVs, from pure EV to range extender — the A series holds the 100,000 RMB essential market, the B series brings high-end configurations like 800V high-voltage fast charging and dual zero-gravity seats to young users, the C series covers the 120,000-180,000 RMB mainstream home interval, and the D series pulls the average price above 300,000 RMB, taking the brand upwards towards premium. Systematically covering all price points and categories, in the new force camp, Leapmotor is the first.

But the product matrix is just the surface, the real underlying capability is full-domain in-house research. Breaking it down, there are three layers of logic.

First, manufacturing core components in-house. Three-electric systems, domain control, and intelligent driving chip solutions are all self-developed, which means eating the supplier margin layer oneself. This logic is so simple it's almost boring, but it is the fundamental reason Leapmotor can still retain profit margins at the 100,000 level.

Second, one architecture supports a fleet of cars. LEAP 4.0 central domain control architecture launched on D19, dual Snapdragon 8797 chips, cabin-driving integration, one brain controlling all vehicle intelligence, and computing power can also be dynamically allocated between different scenarios. But more importantly, this capability is rolled down from top to bottom — urban pilot assist drive has been opened to full ABCD series and Lafa5, and in Q3, national urban pilot will be pushed to LEAP 3.0 models.

Translated into user language, it's one sentence: a 100,000 RMB car can also have flagship-level intelligent experience. For the enterprise, R&D investment of 2.317 billion yuan is one-time, spread across A10 and D19 is two separate accounts — R&D expenses are diluted by scale, this is the real friend of gross margin.

Third, the product matrix implemented a dual line of 'protect volume + protect price'. C10/C11/C16 hold the 120,000-180,000 RMB base, totaling over 30,000 in June. C11 cumulative sales 350,000 units, it's a perennial tree in the niche market. D19 and D99 lift the average price upwards. D19 launched, 15 days pre-orders broke 15,000, continued champion of large SUV sales within 400,000 RMB. D99 first batch order average price already broke 300,000 yuan. One end for volume, one end for price lift, gross margin structure is quietly pushed up this way.

This is exactly the underlying logic of Leapmotor: good but not expensive — not by sacrificing configurations to reduce costs, but by controlling costs through in-house research and turning saved money into configurations.

Next, look at profitability. Consecutive half-year profitability, gross margin 11.7%, revenue reached historical high — placed together, these numbers mean Leapmotor's business model has been validated. The most questioned aspect of new force car manufacturing these years is rising sales but no profit.

Leapmotor's answer is: combining scale, in-house research, and efficiency, making gross margin positive, then thickening cash flow. The 38.59 billion yuan cash on hand is its confidence to continue investing in R&D and globalization.

Going Global, Leapmotor is Serious

If sales and profitability are Leapmotor's domestic report card for this half year, the overseas market is the second chapter it quietly wrote, and the section is quite large.

First half overseas deliveries 96,294 units, continuing to grow quarter-over-quarter, nearly doubled. Italy pure EV market share over one-quarter, ranking first in local pure EV sales continuously. In the first half, sales leading among Chinese brand EVs in Germany. Ranked third in UK Chinese brand pure EV retail. Entered Mexico in Q2, opening the North American market. Globally covering over 45 international markets, establishing over 1000 sales and service outlets.

More noteworthy is the progress of localized production. In Malaysia, C10 is already mass-produced, B10 follows in Q3. In Spain, B10 starts production in Q3. In Brazil, Stellantis's Goiania plant is selected as the localized assembly base.

This is no longer just selling cars overseas, but rooting overseas. Deep cooperation with Stellantis gives Leapmotor ready-made channels, factories, and localized capabilities overseas. The performance of 96,294 units in overseas sales in the first half is evidence that this approach is working.

Leapmotor's global path is consistent with its logic for the domestic market: not seeking the loudest name, first finding that 'not yet fully competed' position, then standing firm with efficiency and cost advantages. Just like it found a gap in the 100,000-200,000 RMB market back then, today it found the same position in Europe's affordable EV market — where it happens to be the interval where European local car makers find it hardest to make money and most want to exit.

Leapmotor effectively translated the 'cost + efficiency' model verified domestically to the global scale.

At the end of the half-year report, an easter egg is buried: Leapmotor will hold an annual technical conference in September, releasing intelligent driving world models reaching the industry's top tier level and the latest achievements in the three-electric field. The story of full-domain in-house research is still being written downwards.

Looking back at this half year, what Leapmotor did right is actually very simple: control costs to the extreme, define products accurately, position channels fully, and put eyes on the global. No flashy marketing jargon, no earth-shattering price wars, just step-by-step solidifying the four characters 'Good and Not Expensive'.

Consecutive profitability, new force sales champion, global top four — behind these milestones is the same logic: when others are competing in the busiest battlefield, Leapmotor chooses to practice fundamentals to the extreme, then quietly wins on every underestimated track.

This might be the most worthy place for the industry to think about Leapmotor's half-year report.