Leapmotor is preparing a second generation of its tiny T03 city car to take on upcoming European rivals including the Renault Twingo and Volkswagen ID 1.
The value-focused EV went on sale in Europe 2024 as one of the Chinese manufacturer's first two cars in the region, alongside the C10 SUV.
Measuring just 3.6m long and priced from less than £16,000, it's one of the smallest and cheapest cars in Europe, undercut only by the similarly conceived Dacia Spring, which is also its only direct rival.
The T03 has played an important role in building Leapmotor's visibility in Europe but has been far outsold by the C10 – selling just over 2000 units in the UK overall, compared with the SUV's 5000 – and is likely to also be comfortably outperformed by the incoming B10 crossover, A05 hatchback and B03X supermini.
It will also soon face off against a wave of new electric city cars from the likes of Dacia, Renault and Volkswagen, which are set to be more overtly designed for European customers while offering superior performance for only a minimal premium.
However, Tianshu Xin, CEO of Leapmotor International, said the T03 still has an important role to play in Europe.
"I think the T03 is a perfect car for European applications - the road conditions and the customer preferences," he told Autocar. "So we will certainly keep the T03 to address the A-segment needs.
"Based on our market research for the A-segment, it's not about demand, it's about supply. And a lot of OEMs stopped producing A-segment cars because of the profitability challenges, so the T03 is a perfect product to address the customer needs.
"Many customers are buying T03 as a second car in their family, to handle their daily commute to the office, to take the kids to school and do the grocery shopping. There's a huge demand now. The T03 is a perfect car for European market."
Xin confirmed that Leapmotor is already "developing the next generation of the T03", because while the model is new to Europe, it has been on sale in China since 2019.
He wouldn't be pressed for specifics but said Leapmotor would overhaul "the design, styling, interior and software", likely with a view to better catering to European consumer tastes.
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