Why 'bland' Leapmotor Was The Real Star Of The Paris Motor Show

'Jam tomorrow' was the alternative theme on the Stellantis stand at Paris.

Unlike Alice in the Lewis Carroll book, you could also have jam today, just without that lovely retro flavour like your mum used to make. Instead it's mass-produced in China and plentiful, if bland.

In this now tortured metaphor, tomorrow's jam was a vivid shade of strawberry red in the form of the Citroën 2CV. There were other flavours too, including a delicious cherry red Alfa Romeo, a sumptuous blueberry DS and a banana yellow Fiat. These were all concept cars, however.

The B03 small EV from Leapmotor was much less flavourful, but it will be available to buy from early next year, coming with 194bhp, a 242-mile range and a 133kW charging speed, all for a likely price in the low-£20,000s. Leapmotor was right there among Stellantis's vast display amid Hall 4 of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles because of the multinational giant's 51% stake in its Chinese partner firm's international sales.

The juxtaposition was pretty tasty. Here was a fast-growing brand nailing the tech, price and launch speed that characterise the Chinese push in Europe, just without the design appeal. It took its place among storied European brands leveraging great heritage to produce eye-popping designs but with no fresh metal. Stellantis is stuck in a launch lull, creating the need for a slew of concepts to mark its big European revival extravaganza at the show that's closest to being a home event.

For all the gloom about Europe, Stellantis is doing pretty well with its current product range. European sales were up 10% in the third quarter of 2026, making it the only global region in which gains were posted. Electric vehicles in particular boosted demand, led by those based on the Smart Car platform, including the Citroën C3 and Fiat Grande Panda. But sales of models such as the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa and Mokka, Peugeot 2008 and Alfa Romeo Junior were in decline. And the Smart Car-platform EVs are no match spec-wise for the Leapmotor cars.

In Paris, Leapmotor stood slightly abashed in the corner while we all ogled the concept eye candy, including the Peugeot RCZ. But it's going to play a much larger part in the transformation of Stellantis in Europe, including supplying tech for the 'E-car' platform that will underpin the 2CV and other EVs from 2028. It's also helping Stellantis fill underutilised factories in Spain, as well as supplying an SUV platform to Vauxhall.

You could say it's helping Stellantis out of a jam.