Dally told us there were two parts to Leapmotor’s fleet plan in the UK. He said: “Thanks to Stellantis, we’ve got a ready-made dealer network. Of the 44 dealers that we already have, quite a few are big in the fleet world. For example, we’ve got four Arnold Clarks in there, we’ve got our own Robins & Day dealer group that are proactive in fleet, we’ve also got Greenhous up in Shrewsbury and Telford, and Snows on the South Coast that are also proactive in fleet. 

“Then there’s the geographical location of these dealers – the coverage is very good, for example we have four sites in London from day one. Plus, the 44 dealers will grow to 60 by the end of the year. In Manchester we’re covered, with Edinburgh by the end of the year. Considering we haven’t even launched yet; we’ve got a great footprint for fleet – which is important for servicing and maintenance as well. 

“The second part is that we will be within Stellantis’ own central fleet operation – we’re in the process of that now. We will benefit from those fleet teams, just by adding Leapmotor to the stable. 

“What Leapmotor brings to Stellantis, is that with the ZEV mandate, the more Leapmotor models we sell, the more ICE Citroen, Peugeot, and Fiat models can be sold. If we think about how that would work as a fleet deal, it’s quite a good recipe, really.”

We then asked Dally where he thought Leapmotor was going to be conquesting fleet drivers from.

He said: “If you look at the A-segment where the TO3 sits, Stellantis used to offer the Fiat 500 Hybrid that’s coming to an end this year, the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 that aren’t made anymore, and a couple of Vauxhall cars.  Our dealers have those customers, so they will have an opportunity to offer them a fully-specced alternative for £15,995. As our car is the best specified in the A-segment. 

“The C10 is going to be more of a fleet car, as if you look at the segment, it’s around 40 to 45% fleet. It is a D-SUV for the price of a C-SUV, and we’re benchmarking against the BYD Atto 3. The reason why I chose the BYD, is the C10’s range at 262 miles is almost identical. But, the Atto 3 is 4.3 metres long, the C10 is 4.7 metres long – and it’s considerably better specified! So, I’m giving fleet buyers a D-SUV, with the same range as a C-SUV, that’s almost £1,000 cheaper with better spec. Which as a 40% taxpayer, they’ll be paying under £40 per month BIK. 

“I think we’ll bring new customers to the brand as well. I’m really pleased we’ve gone for this high-specification approach in the UK – it’s different to the rest of Europe, and I think its been well received by the residual value setters, and dealers – because specification in the car industry has got super complicated!”