Next month, Chinese EV maker Leapmotor will officially begin assembling electric vehicles in Spain. But if you live in Britain, do not expect your shiny new crossover to come with a Spanish accent.
British buyers will keep getting their cars straight from China, wrapped in shipping film and fresh off a cargo vessel. Why? Because while the European Union slaps imported Chinese EVs with crushing tariffs of up to 35.3% on top of the standard 10% import duty, post-Brexit Britain charges a glorious grand total of zero percent. Naturally, Damien Dally, who runs Leapmotor in Britain, is not about to complicate logistics just to appease bureaucrats in Brussels.
So, the Spanish plant in Figueruelas near Zaragoza, operated by Stellantis and already churning out Peugeot 208s and Lancia Ypsilons, will exclusively supply the tariff-choked European mainland.
The first model on the assembly line is the B10. The 4.52-meter electric SUV happens to be Leapmotor’s British best-seller. Stellantis chief executive Antonio Filosa and global quality director Ding Yongfei plan to follow it up with the B05, and B03X by 2027, targeting an initial annual capacity of 40,000 units. That sounds ambitious until you realize Leapmotor registered over 48,000 cars across Europe in the first half of the year alone. To keep up, Spain is a complete-knock-down kit operation backed by a battery assembly workshop in Mallén pumping out up to 100,000 lithium iron phosphate modules, with chassis built in Borja by Lieder Automotive.
Tariffs are not the only headache forcing Leapmotor onto European soil. Ocean freight rates skyrocketed up to 150%. Container prices are now from around $2,100 to over $5,000. Carriers dodge Red Sea tensions by routing around the Cape of Good Hope.
Yet, as executive Giacalone pointed out, moving production to Europe carries a massive risk: European sloth. In China, developing a new car from scratch and starting production takes a lightning-fast 18 to 20 months. In Europe, sluggish supplier networks can drag that timeline out to a painful 36 months, effectively killing any competitive advantage.
Fortunately for Leapmotor, their speed-demon strategy is paying off handsomely. Since launching in Britain in spring 2025, they have passed 11,000 registrations. They grabbed 3% of the British EV market in a single month while routinely outselling Fiat. Across Europe, sales surged 526.7% in the first half of the year.
