Leapmotor: talks with Ferrari for electric car

Talks for a collaboration with Ferrari on the development of electric car technologies. The founder and CEO of Leapmotor, Zhu Jangming, in a lengthy interview with the Reuters news agency during the ongoing Shanghai motor show (in which, moreover, he announced an agreement with the Chinese company Faw to supply a platform for the production of a Hongqi-branded SUV for the European market), confirms the news of an open dialogue with the Maranello marque on possible collaboration. A dialogue that began last February when Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna met with Leapmotor top management in China.

At the centre of the talks between the two automakers, Zhu says, could be a collaboration on developing technologies on the electric car. Leapmotor, founded in 2015 by Zhu as a company developing artificial intelligence solutions, has specialised in the production of electric cars, including those with extended range, since 2017. In October 2023, Leapmotor set up a joint venture with Stellantis, which holds 51%, to market outside China some of the models produced by the carmaker founded by Zhu. In Italy and other European countries, Leapmotor cars have been on sale since last September.

Ferrari has been working for years on the Elettrica project, Maranello's first EV car. The model, which according to rumours will be produced in a very limited number, will be launched on 9 October and is in an advanced state of development in all its components. Also under continuous development are the hybridisation technologies used, for example, on the 296 GTB, the plug-in hybrid supercar launched by Maranello in 2021.

Leapmotor, due to its origins and manufacturing development, is becoming a reservoir of technologies, batteries and platforms for the electric car, especially for Reev systems (range-extending technology). Stellantis, which shares a shareholder Exor with Ferrari, is already tapping into these solutions.