Automotive / MobilityChina
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JOURNEY · DETAIL
Leapmotor's Zhu Jiangming: Dahua Technology Co-founder's Cross-industry Pivot, Full-stack In-house R&D, and Strategic Alliance with Stellantis
Founded: Zhu Jiangming, Fu Liquan · Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., Ltd. (Leapmotor)
JOURNEY
Key Fields
FIELD STAMPSIndustryAutomotive / Mobility
RegionChina
ScaleGiant
ChannelOther
Origin
Zhu Jiangming, co-founder and CTO of Dahua Technology, entered the automotive industry in 2015 at the age of 48. His reasoning was purely engineering-driven: after building the world's second-largest security company, he identified smart vehicles as the next major multi-decade market, where Dahua's expertise in vision, chips, and embedded systems could be leveraged. He believed that electric vehicles are essentially electronic products, and whoever masters the full-stack in-house development of electronic/electrical architectures and core components can drive down costs and reclaim pricing power.
Milestones
1993
Founding Turning Point
Zhu Jiangming and Fu Liquan founded Dahua Technology, growing it from a dispatch communication equipment provider to the world's second-largest security firm. Following Dahua's IPO on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2008, Zhu accumulated comprehensive engineering experience in vision algorithms and embedded hardware, providing the foundation and initial capital for his cross-industry move into automotive at 48. This phase lasted from 1993 to 2015.
2015
Early Startup Failure
Zhu founded Leapmotor in 2015, facing rejection from investors 89 times and at one point mortgaging his Dahua shares to pay employee salaries. The first model, the S01, was positioned as a two-door electric coupe, which the market rejected. With dismal annual sales and massive inventory, this failure taught the team that the 'coupe toy' strategy was not viable. This phase lasted from 2015 to 2019.
2020
Adjustment Pivot
Leapmotor abandoned the niche coupe concept, pivoting to the T03 micro-car and the C11 family SUV. Zhu implemented a 'full-stack in-house R&D' strategy, maximizing self-development of batteries, electric drives, electronic controls, cockpits, and autonomous driving systems. The T03 generated cash flow, and the C11 became the company's first true volume hit after its 2021 launch. This phase lasted from 2020 to 2021.
2022
IPO PMF
Leapmotor listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2022, but the stock price fell below the issue price on its debut, leading to a significant drop in market valuation. Skepticism toward second-tier startups peaked. With approximately 111,000 units delivered that year, the company faced the dual reality of sales validation and capital market indifference, forcing the team to continue proving their value through cost advantages.
2023
Breakthrough Turning Point
In October 2023, global automotive giant Stellantis announced a roughly 1.5 billion euro investment for a 20% stake in Leapmotor and the formation of 'Leapmotor International,' a reverse joint venture. Stellantis holds a 51% stake and manages overseas markets, marking the first time a Chinese automaker has partnered with a global giant as a technology provider on equal footing.
2024
Scaling Growth
In 2024, Leapmotor's annual sales approached 300,000 units, achieving quarterly profitability. By 2026, monthly sales stabilized above 90,000 units, occasionally exceeding 100,000, with annual revenue reaching approximately 65 billion RMB, making it a top player among new energy startups. Models like the T03 entered Europe via Leapmotor International, proving that the cost advantages of full-stack in-house R&D are effective globally. This phase spans from 2024 to 2026.
Turning Points
- After the failure of the S01 coupe in 2019, the company decisively pivoted to the mass-market family segment with the T03 and C11, shifting from a focus on personality to cost-effectiveness.
- In 2023, accepting a 1.5 billion euro investment from Stellantis and forming the Leapmotor International joint venture transformed the company from a solo player into a technology provider.
- Persisting in full-stack in-house R&D for batteries, electric drives, cockpits, and autonomous driving has compressed supply chain costs to the lowest in the industry, building a defensible pricing power.
Failures & Pitfalls
- The first model, the S01, was a two-door electric coupe that severely misjudged the market, resulting in massive inventory and dismal sales.
- During the early startup phase, the company was rejected by investors approximately 89 times, and Zhu had to mortgage his Dahua shares to pay staff during a liquidity crisis.
- The 2022 Hong Kong IPO saw the stock price break on the first day, causing a sharp decline in market value and cold treatment from the capital market as a second-tier startup.
- Zhu Jiangming publicly admitted that he wouldn't have entered the industry had he known how capital-intensive it was, acknowledging an underestimation of the funding requirements.
关键成功要素
- Leveraging embedded and vision engineering capabilities forged in the security industry and applying them to automotive electronic/electrical architectures.
- Full-stack in-house R&D of core electric components and electronic architecture, creating structural cost advantages per vehicle.
- Targeting the mainstream family market (100,000 to 200,000 RMB) with flagship volume models, avoiding the 'high-end' narrative.
- Partnering with Stellantis for both capital and international distribution, trading equity for access to a global dealership network.
Lessons
- The greatest asset in cross-industry entrepreneurship is a transferable engineering methodology, not industry seniority.
- Failing with the first product is not fatal; failing to abandon a self-indulgent product positioning is. The speed of error correction determines survival.
- In capital-intensive industries, calculate the financials before entering; low-cost capability is a moat in itself.
- When resources are balanced, do not fear giving up majority control; reverse joint ventures can overcome channel and compliance barriers in one step.
Core Data
- 2026 Peak Monthly Sales：Over 100,000 units (based on public data, not independently verified)
- 2026 Normal Monthly Sales：90,000 units (based on public data, not independently verified)
- 2024 Annual Sales：Approx. 290,000 units (based on public data, not independently verified)
- 2022 Delivery Volume：Approx. 111,000 units (based on public data, not independently verified)
- Stellantis Investment Amount：Approx. 1.5 billion euros (based on public data, not independently verified)
- Stellantis Stake：Approx. 20% (based on public data, not independently verified)
- Number of Funding Rejections：Approx. 89 times (based on public data, not independently verified)
Competitors / Peers
Domestically, Leapmotor competes with BYD, Li Auto, and Neta in the same price segment: BYD relies on vertical integration and scale to dominate all price ranges; Li Auto defines products through extended-range technology and family scenarios; Neta also pursues a low-price strategy but has fallen behind due to a lack of full-stack in-house R&D and overseas channels. Internationally, Leapmotor International uses Stellantis's channels to compete directly with the electric product lines of traditional automakers like Volkswagen and Renault, differentiating itself by using Chinese supply chain costs to produce highly intelligent electric vehicles at significantly lower prices.