Car and City: Leapmotor Apr. registrations top NIO, Li Auto

In the fourth month of 2022, Leapmotor, China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) startup who has recently filed for an IPO in Hong Kong, registered more vehicles than NIO and Li Auto.

Compared to the other four rising NEV startups in China, Leapmotor came in third in April registrations, surpassing NIO and Li Auto, according to the data compiled by Gasgoo Auto Research Institute (GARI). Due to the time-consuming registration process, automakers' monthly delivery volume in China is usually not equal to their same-month registration volume.

When it came to deliveries in April, Leapmotor actually won first place among the five most popular NEV startups in the country with 9,078 vehicles delivered. The other four companies also reported different numbers. Specifically, NIO delivered 5,074 vehicles, Li Auto delivered 4,167 vehicles, XPeng delivered 9,002 vehicles, and NETA delivered 8,813 vehicles.

In April, Leapmotor registered 8,172 vehicles, skyrocketing 178.81% from a year ago. By the end of April, Leapmotor's cumulative registration volume reached 26,812 vehicles, almost quadrupled from 2021. 

Except in February, the general slow month in China's auto market, Leapmotor has been gaining overall momentum since the beginning of 2022.

On the other hand, Leapmotor's growth in April registrations should be considered meaningful because of the sudden COVID resurgence and supply crunch that has hit the entire auto industry in China.

Specifically, among the three models the Hangzhou-based company has on the market, Leapmotor’s mainstay mini-EV model, the T03, maintained the majority of registrations in April as always, with 5,930 vehicles registered, accounting for 72% of the monthly volume. The compact electric SUV C11 saw a 30% month-over-month decline, with 2,242 vehicles registered this month. Leapmotor did not register any S01s this month, also known as the company’s first model on the market.

It is worth noting that in an effort to elevate its brand image, Leapmotor officially debuted the fourth production model, the C01, and began its presale on May 10th. The C01 is installed with the automaker’s CTC (Cell-to-Chassis) technology, as China’s first. Coming with five trims, the vehicle is priced at RMB180,000 to RMB270,000 ($26,894 to $40,341), becoming Leapmotor’s priciest model.

In April, two cities came closely on top with almost 400 Leapmotor vehicles registered, namely Tianjin with 385 vehicles and Zhengzhou with 380 vehicles. The rest of the eight cities in the top ten list of April registrations all registered over 200 vehicles. Five of the top ten cities are in Leapomotor’s homebase, the Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Zhejiang province, Jiangsu Province, and Anhui province). None of the first-tier metropolises in China entered the top ten list.