Leapmotor Pre-IPO
Leapmotor (LM) aims to raise around US$1bn in its Hong Kong IPO. LM is a smart EV company based in China, founded in 2015.
It primarily focuses on the mid- to high-end segment in China’s NEV market with a price range of RMB150,000-300,000. As of FY21, it had launched and delivered three models over the past three years. In 2019, it started production of the S01, its first mass-produced smart EV, its smart electric mini car, the T03, began delivery in 2020 and the C11, a mid-sized smart electric SUV, in 2021.
It produces smart EVs and their core systems and electronic components in its manufacturing plant in Jinhua, Zhejiang province. The plant has a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles per annum. It sells its cars through its directly operated stores, along with channel partner stores.
As of end FY21, it had delivered a total of 52,832 cars with most of the sales being for its mini units, T03. As it has expanded its production and distribution, its revenue grew by 26.7x over FY19-21. It aims to launch eight more models over the next few years which should help to prop up its growth.
However, its linked entity, Dahua Technology, is on US’s entity list which will ward off a few investors. In addition, it needs a whole lot of cash to scale up and appears to be lagging its larger peers.