Leapmotor Targets 1 Million Annual Sales and $700 Million Profit by 2026

Leapmotor’s Q3 saw a 101.77% delivery increase, achieving 500,000 annual target early with significant growth expected by 2026.

On November 17, Leapmotor released its third-quarter earnings report.

Leapmotor’s acceleration in 2025 has been striking. Q3 deliveries reached 173,852 units, up 101.77% year-on-year and nearly 30% quarter-on-quarter.

Over the first two months of Q4, the pace has continued. In October, the company entered the “70,000-unit delivery club.”

Last weekend, CEO Zhu Jiangming announced via social media that Leapmotor has already achieved its full-year 2025 delivery target of 500,000 units ahead of schedule.

Last night’s earnings report further stated that Leapmotor expects “full-year deliveries to exceed 600,000 units.”

This means Leapmotor is now certain to break the 2024 annual delivery record previously held by Li Auto.

Although positioned differently in price segments, for Leapmotor — long perceived as low-profile — the milestone represents a long-term strategic victory.

Powered by surging sales, core financial indicators turned sharply positive.

More importantly, Leapmotor’s earnings materials and briefing showed confidence in both the Chinese and international markets through 2026.

The company set two headline targets: reaching 1 million vehicles in annual sales in 2026, and achieving RMB 5 billion ($700 million) in net profit.

Can the biggest breakout performer of 2025 become a new heavyweight in 2026?

Let’s take a closer look.

Broad-based gains

Leapmotor posted three consecutive monthly jumps in Q3: over 50,000 units in July, 57,000 in August, and 66,657 in September — leading China’s new-energy emerging-EV makers by a wide margin.

Model-wise, the C10 averaged 15,000 units per month in Q3 and exceeded 20,000 in October, becoming the company’s first model to cross the 20,000-unit monthly threshold.

In addition, the B01, B10, C11 and C16 each exceeded 10,000 monthly deliveries within the quarter.

Following the leap in deliveries, Leapmotor’s Q3 automotive revenue grew 97.3% year-on-year.

This indicates that revenue per vehicle narrowed slightly, reaching RMB 111,870 ($15,660) per unit.

By comparison, Geely Auto (which also reported yesterday) reported revenue of RMB 117,200 ($16,380) per vehicle.

As Leapmotor nears the symbolic threshold of 100,000 monthly deliveries, expanding margins through higher-end products becomes essential.

New C11 and C16 deliveries contributed to margin improvement.

As a result, Q3 gross margin reached 14.5%, up from 8.1% a year earlier and 13.6% in the previous quarter.

Management stated that gross margin in Q4 is expected to remain broadly in line with Q3 levels.

Alongside product-mix optimization, sustained cost control has also been supportive.

With both levers in motion, Leapmotor reported a record quarterly net profit of RMB 150 million ($21.0 million). Having turned profitable in Q1, the company expects to maintain profitability across all four quarters of this year.

Looking forward, Leapmotor aims to reach RMB 5 billion ($700 million) in annual net profit in 2026, while achieving the “one-million sales” milestone mentioned earlier this year by COO Cao Li.

RMB 5 billion in net profit would trail only Li Auto’s 2024 total of about RMB 8 billion, while 1 million annual sales would put Leapmotor in the ranks of global mainstream automakers — comparable to Mazda.

So how does Leapmotor intend to reach seven-digit annual sales by 2026?

Moving upmarket and expanding globally

Leapmotor will introduce two new series next year.

One is the flagship D-series for large vehicles, and the other is the A-series entry line. Altogether, four new models are scheduled for launch and delivery in 2026.

The D19 model — equipped with a class-leading battery configuration combining an 80 kWh range-extended pack with a 115 kWh BEV pack — has drawn significant attention, and Leapmotor said its early order intake exceeds that of any previous model at a comparable stage.

By the end of 2026, Leapmotor expects to complete its four-family lineup — A, B, C, and D — supported by more than 1,000 retail outlets by the end of 2025 and expanding to 1,500 by late 2026.

Leapmotor has already begun R&D on a next-generation platform, internally described as a “new species.” The current D19 is based on LEAP 3.5D, still part of the broader 3.5 architecture.

As background, Q3 R&D investment reached RMB 1.21 billion ($169 million), up 11.4% quarter-on-quarter and 55.4% year-on-year.

The next-generation platform is expected to be “fundamentally different” from today’s lineup, though mass deployment will not come before 2027–2028.

Meanwhile, 2026 will be a crucial year for Leapmotor’s international expansion.

The company confirmed that it is evaluating South Africa as a new entry point for global markets.

However, Leapmotor does not expect early overseas volumes to drive major profit. Management said the initial three-year period prioritizes scale, with gross margins kept low initially and reaching domestic levels by 2026.

Compared to the still-maturing overseas business, Leapmotor appears highly confident in reaching 1 million annual sales.

During last night’s briefing, the management team stated: “We have no rule of turning back” in describing the strategic importance of the goal.

In the EV industry, there is no standing still. For Leapmotor, 2026 marks the first chapter of a new decade.

One million sales and RMB 5 billion ($700 million) in profit will serve as a comprehensive assessment of strategy, execution, conviction and innovation.