Is Leapmotor in talks with Huawei? Can the strategy of offering vehicles at half the price of Li Auto be sustainable? Is high-end positioning the right solution?
After monthly sales exceeded 50,000 units, Leapmotor is planning to make another big splash.
Recently, blogger @Sun Shaojun revealed in a live broadcast that Leapmotor is in talks with Huawei for cooperation, and its models are expected to be equipped with Huawei's ADS assisted driving system. Sun Shaojun also disclosed that "the number of brands choosing to cooperate with Huawei exceeds expectations." Another blogger @Blood Jingqi pointed out that Huawei's ADS business is "expanding rapidly," and more significant cooperation will be announced in the next few months.
For Leapmotor, known as the "half - price Li Auto" and having opened up the market with extreme cost - effectiveness, the contact with Huawei's Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS system not only shows its eagerness for technological upgrading but also reveals its "hidden agenda": it doesn't want to just sell cost - effective models; it wants to move upmarket and sell more expensive cars!
If this cooperation materializes, Leapmotor will have both the "mobile living room" like Li Auto and Huawei's intelligent ecosystem, which may completely rewrite Leapmotor's growth story.
The 'Li Auto alternative' strategy is unsustainable; high - end development is the inevitable path for Leapmotor
Leapmotor's rise is a textbook case in the Chinese new energy vehicle market.
In July 2025, with a monthly delivery of over 50,000 units, it ranked first in the sales of new - energy vehicle startups for the fifth consecutive month. This achievement is supported by a manufacturing system called "full - domain self - research" by its founder Zhu Jiangming and a strategic positioning described by the outside world as "learning from Li Auto."
However, always "learning from Li Auto" is not a long - term solution. The mid - and low - end market can bring in sales, but the profit is limited. To pursue a healthier gross profit margin, it is necessary to produce higher - priced products, which is almost an inevitable path for the development of every cost - effective brand.
Image source: Leapmotor
In fact, Leapmotor has been preparing for its high - end product line for a long time. Previously, Zhu Jiangming of Leapmotor disclosed at a technology cooperation press conference that Leapmotor first launched the C - series priced at 150,000 - 200,000 yuan because this price range is relatively easier to promote compared to the luxury car market and also represents a certain level of the brand's technological capabilities. If it started with the A - series priced at 50,000 - 100,000 yuan and gradually moved up the price range, it would be more difficult. Launching the C - series first was to facilitate the subsequent launch of the high - end D - series.
While maintaining an offensive in the 100,000 - 200,000 yuan mainstream market with cost - effectiveness and rapid iteration, a successful breakthrough in the high - end market is an indispensable part of achieving Leapmotor's overall goals.
However, when Leapmotor tries to break into the high - end market at the 300,000 - yuan level, although the early advantage of being the "leader among new - energy vehicle startups" can put Leapmotor in a favorable position, there are still lessons to be learned.
The strategies for the 300,000 - yuan market are completely different from those for the market below 200,000 yuan.
First of all, the "half - price Li Auto" strategy definitely won't work. If your half - price product is already priced at 300,000 yuan, why wouldn't consumers buy the original Li Auto? Leapmotor's official also understands that to break into the high - end market, it must abandon the stereotype of being the "half - price Li Auto." Its senior vice - president Cao Li publicly stated on Weibo that the upcoming D - series models of Leapmotor will be the brand's first flagship products targeting the 300,000 - yuan price range. These cars won't be the "half - price Li Auto" as the outside world speculates.
Secondly, high - end development requires cutting - edge technology as a backing. Whether it's intelligent driving or the intelligent cockpit, you must have a reason to convince the public to spend 300,000 yuan. If there is no core technological moat, another brand with a "half - price Leapmotor" featuring a refrigerator, a color TV, and a big sofa will emerge immediately.
All in all, Leapmotor must give users a reason to "abandon Wenjie, Li Auto, and Xiaomi and instead spend 300,000 yuan on Leapmotor." The combination of Li Auto's mobile living room and Huawei's intelligent ecosystem may be the key for Leapmotor to solve the high - end development dilemma.
Empowered by Huawei, Leapmotor has found its "key player" for high - end development
This is not the first time Leapmotor has had contact with Huawei.
Looking back to March 2024, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement on the Hongmeng ecosystem and launched the development of Leapmotor's native APP based on HarmonyOS NEXT. This cooperation enabled seamless multi - terminal transfer of the Leapmotor APP across mobile phones, watches, tablets, etc., initially verifying the feasibility of technological collaboration.
This time, the focus is on intelligent driving. In terms of intelligent driving, Huawei's ADS 4 system was launched at the Qiankun Intelligent Technology Conference in 2025. Its core advantage lies in the modular technological architecture: it offers four configurations from the basic version (SE) to the flagship version (Ultra), supporting both the L2 - level requirements of economy models and the "L3 - like" autonomous driving requirements of high - end models.
This flexibility is highly attractive to Leapmotor, which adheres to a product matrix across multiple price ranges. The BC series can use the basic version, while the higher - end D series can adopt the advanced version. More importantly, Huawei's ADS has formed a strong brand recognition, which can assist Leapmotor in moving upmarket.
Image source: Leapmotor
For Leapmotor, introducing Huawei's intelligent driving technology may adopt the HI model, which means introducing Huawei's full - stack intelligent solutions while retaining the overall vehicle autonomy. This model can make up for Leapmotor's technological shortcomings in the high - end intelligent driving field and avoid the "selected car model" that completely relies on Huawei, which may weaken its own brand's dominance.
The difficulty lies in how Leapmotor can maintain cost balance?
The cost of Huawei's ADS system, especially the advanced version, is not low. On August 25th last year, Huawei's automotive BU announced that the price of the basic version of ADS was reduced from 20,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan. Even after the price cut, this cost will still add a significant amount to the overall vehicle price.
Fortunately, Leapmotor's cost - control ability can be transformed into a powerful tool to support its high - end transformation. The advantage in single - vehicle manufacturing cost brought by its "full - stack self - research" provides a valuable cost - buffer space for integrating expensive systems such as Huawei's ADS into high - end models.
This is not to continue the "half - price" strategy but to build a competitive "value - for - money ratio" in the high - end market. That is, in the price range above 300,000 yuan, it can provide a technological experience and configuration level that is no less than or even surpasses that of its peers. Huawei's ADS provides the technological support for the D - series to become a "blockbuster."
Introducing Huawei's ADS is a crucial move for Leapmotor to break into the high - end market. It wants to leverage Huawei's top - notch intelligent driving technology and brand influence to make up for its biggest shortcoming when moving upmarket. At the same time, Leapmotor also plans to give full play to its strengths in cost control and efficient manufacturing, trying to blaze a new trail of "top - notch intelligent experience + Leapmotor - style high cost - effectiveness" in the highly competitive market above 300,000 yuan.
If the integration goes smoothly, the combination of "Leapmotor manufacturing + Huawei intelligent driving" can help Leapmotor get rid of the label of "half - price Li Auto" and truly transform into an all - around powerful player.
There are of course risks, but with the intensifying intelligent competition and the narrowing time window, cooperating with Huawei is undoubtedly the fastest and most reliable choice for Leapmotor.
The window for going it alone in the intelligentization race is closing
In the "team competition" of intelligent electric vehicles, Leapmotor is striving to position itself in a more advantageous position. With the exponential increase in the complexity of intelligent vehicle technology, adhering to "full - stack self - research" may not be as practical as "open collaboration."
Take high - level intelligent driving as an example. Its R & D involves in - depth integration of multiple sensors, high - precision map / map - less positioning, training with massive scenario data, cutting - edge algorithms such as BEV + Transformer, vehicle - grade super - computing platforms, and a large amount of simulation and real - vehicle verification.
This not only requires astronomical and continuous investment but also top - notch interdisciplinary talent reserves and a long engineering iteration cycle. The harsh reality of the industry is that even Tesla, a strong player, has repeatedly postponed the full implementation of its FSD. Many new - energy vehicle startups that once advocated "full - stack self - research" are widening, rather than narrowing, the gap with leading players in terms of user experience, coverage, and iteration speed of their intelligent driving systems.
Image source: Leapmotor
In this context, "open cooperation and leveraging external strengths" has become a rational choice for more and more automakers. Instead of struggling alone in the bottomless technological abyss, it is better to integrate the best resources in the ecosystem and focus on one's core capabilities.
The reason why Huawei's ADS business is "expanding rapidly" is that more and more automakers have realized that in the arms race of intelligent driving, going it alone may mean high trial - and - error costs and missed time windows.
A notable phenomenon is that the number of brands "partnering with Huawei" far exceeds expectations.
On March 31st, Huawei released its 2024 financial report. The revenue of its intelligent vehicle solutions business reached 2.6353 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 474.4%. In contrast, Huawei's revenue from the automotive sector in 2023 was only 458.8 million yuan, just one year apart.
According to incomplete statistics, more than 20 automakers have currently chosen Huawei's ADS, and over 50 models will be equipped with this system in 2026. Among state - owned enterprises, three brands under Dongfeng, namely Voyah, Mengshi, and Yipai, have fully adopted Huawei's intelligent driving technology. The luxury brand Audi has also planned six models equipped with ADS.
In this context, it is not surprising that Leapmotor is reported to be in talks with Huawei for cooperation; in fact, the cooperation could have started earlier. Leapmotor wants to sell more expensive cars, but it faces bottlenecks. Relying solely on cost - effectiveness is not enough. The high - end market values technological strength, especially intelligent driving.
Therefore, cooperating with Huawei has become a crucial step. This is not only to make up for Leapmotor's shortcoming in top - notch intelligent driving technology but also in line with the industry trend. In the future, building intelligent electric vehicles alone won't work; it requires "collaboration" and resource integration, that is, the so - called ecosystem.
Electric Vehicle Weekly believes that if the cooperation materializes, the combination of "Leapmotor's vehicle manufacturing + Huawei's intelligent driving" may create a powerful competitor with strong technology and price advantages in the 300,000 - yuan market. Whether Leapmotor can break the curse of "cheap car brands can't sell at high prices" through this cooperation determines whether it can transform from the sales champion among new - energy vehicle startups to a real heavyweight in the automotive industry.
Risks and opportunities coexist, but in the current high - stakes intelligentization race, this is undoubtedly the most efficient strategic choice for Leapmotor.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Electric Vehicle Weekly," author: Electric Vehicle Weekly. It is published by 36Kr with permission.