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Leapmotor says its advanced manufacturing processes mean that Made in China is better than Made in Europe when it comes to new vehicle production, describing Chinese factories as "the benchmark".
That's according to the brand's international product and marketing chief Francesco Giacalone who says the delay in taking Leapmotor's production outside of China to Spain for the first time is partly due to concerns over European production matching the quality of the brand's domestic factories.
"I think that the first thing is the evidence. You can take a B10 now, and from classic quality measurement standards – you go and check the gaps between the assembly and the components – you will see that it is absolutely perfect," he says.
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"Second, the plants in China, they are three, four years old, and fully automated. So from welding, painting – it's a level of automation that in a plant, which is in Europe and has been existing for 40 or 50 years, is not that evident. You need to make some investments to go on par, at least from a technological point of view.
"So that's why the quality of product produced in China is so far a benchmark."
At issue is the B10, which Leapmotor is planning to produce at a Stellantis' plant in Spain, largely in an effort to avoid EU import tarrifs, provided the Spanish government provides favourable conditions, and that European suppliers can be sourced.
But another driving force is maintaining what the brand sees as Chinese quality.
"We have confirmed that production will be in Spain if conditions are met," Mr Giacalone says.
"(One is) the quality, because cars coming from China they have very high standards of quality, so we cannot just fill any capacity if the base standards to achieve that level are not met."
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