Production of the Leapmotor T03 small battery-electric car has begun at Stellantis's factory in Tychy, Poland.
"We confirm that the first pre-series units of the Leapmotor T03 model have been successfully assembled," a Stellantis spokesperson told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche.
The plant "meets all requirements in terms of quality, cost and available capacity," the spokesperson said.
The factory is on schedule for mass production of the T03 in September.
Stellantis has already announced that the price of the Polish-built T03 will be lower than that of its cheapest electric model, the Citroen e-C3 compact car. The e-C3 is set to start at €19,990. The T03 will likely cost less than the upcoming electric Fiat Panda.
One of the T03's main competitors will be Renault's Dacia Spring all-electric small car, which starts at €20,800 in France and is exported to Europe from China. The Chinese electric car giant BYD is planning to launch its Seagull model on the European market for less than €20,000.
Cost parity with China
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Stellantis and Leapmotor have created a joint venture, called Leapmotor Internaitonal, to build, export and sell Leapmotor products outside China.
Stellantis picked the Tychy plant as the first production base in Europe for Leapmotor's cars, primarily for cost-saving reasons, Reuters reported in March, citing two people close to the matter.
The JV plans to build a second Leapmotor model in Tychy -- the A12 SUV -- starting in the first quarter of 2025, analysts Jefferies said in a report to investors. Leapmotor has also started to prepare localized production of components, Jefferies added.
Manufacturing costs at the Polish plant amount to around €400 to €500 ($428.08-$535.10) per car, similar to those at Leapmotor's base in China, versus around €1,000 in Italy, according to Jefferies.
Leapmotor plans to build its C10 SUV in China and export it to Europe initially as this model could be sold at higher prices, Jefferies said.
Stellantis will begin sales of Leapmotor EVs in nine European markets in September including Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
The European Commission has announced extra duties on imported Chinese EVs from July. They will amount to an additional 21 percent for Leapmotor vehicles exported to Europe from China.
Reuters contributed to this report
