China’s Leapmotor Slips Into Europe via Spain: Dodging Tariffs, Straight to the Assembly Line
With Brussels slapping steep duties on Chinese EVs, Leapmotor has found a way around the toll gate. Rather than absorb a 30 percent tariff hit on every car, the brand will simply build them in Europe—at a Stellantis factory in Spain, no less.
To sidestep the European Union’s 30.7 percent import levy, Leapmotor will begin producing its models at Stellantis’s Spanish facilities. The first to roll off the line will be the compact B10 crossover, Stellantis executive Antonio Filosa confirmed to Automotive News. Full-scale production is set to start soon, supported by more than €160 million in factory upgrades.
This isn’t Leapmotor’s first European assembly venture. Until earlier this year, the company’s T03 city car was being built in Tychy, Poland, and the same site was once considered for B10 output. Spain ultimately won the mandate, offering broader production capacity and stronger logistical support.
The B10 slots into the same segment as Peugeot’s e-3008. In China, it retails for between 109,800 and 139,800 yuan (roughly €12,000–16,000). At its debut, it grabbed headlines as the world’s first EV to offer lidar sensors at a price point around 130,000 yuan—a disruptive move in the mass-market space.
Leapmotor is not stopping with the B10. The company also plans to launch the B05, an all-electric hatchback unveiled at the Munich motor show in early September. Due on sale in 2026, it will target the Volkswagen ID.3, Cupra Born and MG4 EV, pushing Leapmotor deeper into Europe’s compact EV battleground.
