An EV cheaper than a phone bill: how Leapmotor is rattling old European brands

Through Stellantis, the Chinese T03 is leased in Germany from €49 a month — about half what a Fiat 500e costs. Sales jumped 358% in early 2026.

The Chinese Leapmotor T03 has come as an unpleasant surprise for Germany. Through its partnership with Stellantis, the EV is now offered on lease from €49 a month — about $58. For a new EV in Europe, the price looks almost provocative.

The secret is not just cheap Chinese production. The scheme stacks together Chinese components, German EV subsidies and Stellantis’ ready-made dealer network. The result is a T03 that costs roughly half the monthly payment of its direct European rivals. For reference, the Fiat 500e from Stellantis itself runs at about €99 a month — around $117.

And the T03 is no empty capsule on wheels. It comes with a rear-view camera, six airbags and a panoramic roof. The 37.3 kWh battery delivers a WLTP range of about 165 miles, or roughly 265 km. Charging from 30 to 80% takes 36 minutes on a suitable charger.

The dimensions are city-sized too: 3,620 mm long and 1,652 mm wide. The front-mounted electric motor puts out 95 hp and 158 Nm, with 0 to 100 km/h coming up in 12.7 seconds. This is not a car for autobahn records, but the city formula is clear: cheap, compact, electric and without the usual parking drama.

What should worry the old brands most is not the T03 itself but the machinery behind its rollout. Stellantis invested €1.5 billion for around 21% of Leapmotor back in 2023, opening up a European network of more than 850 points of sale to the Chinese brand. What new players usually need years to build, Leapmotor got almost overnight.

And the next step is bigger. The Leapmotor B10 is set to be assembled in Spain at the Stellantis Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza, next to Opel, while talks about transferring the Madrid Villaverde site to Leapmotor’s Spanish arm signal that this is no short-term experiment.

The numbers already show it: according to Germany’s KBA, Leapmotor deliveries in the country jumped 358% in the first four months of 2026, topping 4,500 vehicles. Legacy brands are used to defending themselves with tariffs and reputation, but here the blow comes through their own infrastructure. A T03 at €49 a month is a small car asking a big question: what are European brands supposed to do when their factories and dealers start working for new Chinese competitors?