Who Owns Leapmotor?

Leapmotor is a Chinese company, sold in Europe by Stellantis. The brand belongs to Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology, listed in Hong Kong, in which Stellantis holds a minority stake of around 21%. Everything outside China is handled by Leapmotor International, a joint venture Stellantis controls at 51%. The UK register shows only a foreign company’s British establishment — registered, tellingly, at Stellantis’ own Coventry address. Ownership verified 6 September 2026.

Who owns the Leapmotor brand?

The brand is owned in China. Leapmotor was founded in 2015 in Hangzhou by Zhu Jiangming, previously a co-founder of the surveillance equipment maker Dahua, and it listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2022.

There is no UK-registered Leapmotor company. Companies House holds only two entries, both for the same overseas company: LEAPMOTOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS S.P.A., registered as a foreign establishment (FC042071 / BR027189) on 26 September 2024.

Its registered office is in Turin — and its UK establishment address is Pinley House, 2 Sunbeam Way, Coventry. That is the same address as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Services UK Limited, covered elsewhere on this site. The Stellantis connection is not merely reported; it is legible in the register.

Parent company and ultimate owner

Two owners answer two different questions, and conflating them is the usual error.

The company: Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology is a Chinese listed company. Its shareholders include the founder, Chinese institutional and state-linked investors, and public holders in Hong Kong. Stellantis holds roughly 21% — a large minority, not control. Leapmotor is not a Stellantis subsidiary and does not consolidate into it as one.

The European business: Leapmotor International is a joint venture holding exclusive rights to sell and manufacture Leapmotor products outside Greater China, split 51% Stellantis / 49% Leapmotor. Stellantis controls it.

So a British buyer’s car is designed and largely built by a Chinese company that Stellantis does not control, and sold by a company Stellantis does. Both statements are true at once.

Brand owner vs operating company

Zhejiang Leapmotor owns the marque and the engineering. Leapmotor International Business S.p.A. — an Italian company with a British branch — is the entity that puts the cars in front of UK customers, using Stellantis’ existing dealer network and after-sales infrastructure.

That arrangement is the point of the deal. Leapmotor gained a European distribution network it would have taken a decade to build; Stellantis gained cheap electric vehicles it was struggling to produce itself. Neither had to buy the other.

It also has a practical consequence: warranty and servicing sit with a Stellantis-controlled company, while the product decisions sit in China.

When the ownership changed

Leapmotor has not changed hands. What changed is who sells it.

• 2015 — founded in Hangzhou by Zhu Jiangming.
• 2022 — lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
• October 2023 — Stellantis announces an investment of around €1.5bn for a stake of about 20%, plus the joint venture.
• 2024 — Leapmotor International begins European sales with the T03 and C10; the UK establishment is registered on 26 September.
• 2026 — the partnership is extended, with the joint venture expanding into South America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

The founder remains in place and the company remains Chinese-controlled. Stellantis bought influence and distribution rights, not the business.

Related brands in the same group

Through the 21% stake and the joint venture, Leapmotor sits alongside Stellantis’ fourteen marques — Fiat, Peugeot, Citroën, Vauxhall, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Chrysler and the rest — in showrooms and in the dealer network, without being in the group.

Leapmotor is not connected to BYD, MG, Omoda, Jaecoo or Polestar, the other Chinese-owned marques now selling in Britain, each separately owned and covered elsewhere on this site. MG belongs to SAIC; Polestar to Geely and Volvo. They are frequently lumped together as “the Chinese brands” and share no owner.

Sources and verification

The UK establishment registrations, their 26 September 2024 date, the Turin registered office and the Coventry establishment address are Companies House records and can be checked directly. The shared address with Stellantis’ UK services company is a register fact, not an inference.

Everything else sits outside UK records. The 21% stake and the 51/49 joint venture split are reported figures, from Stellantis’ own announcements and its market filings, not from Companies House — and a foreign establishment registration carries no ownership disclosure at all.

Leapmotor’s own shareholder register is governed by Hong Kong listing rules and Chinese company law, where disclosure of ultimate beneficial ownership is materially less transparent than the UK PSC regime. Companies House does not verify most filed information.