Stellantis ready to sacrifice the Peugeot 5008 for the Leapmotor C16?

Hardly launched, the Peugeot 5008 certainly did not expect to be challenged by a cousin from China.

The Peugeot 5008 remains a niche product, but very well thought out to avoid too much competition. A large SUV of 4.7 meters with three rows of seats, available in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and 100% electric versions. Little to no competition aside from the Renault Espace and Nissan X-Trail cousins, the Skoda Kodiaq, the Volvo XC90, and the Tesla Model X. Admittedly, that makes very few models in the same segment! Lacking time and energy, we wouldn’t even bother listing all the B-segment models sold in Europe…

Large, attractive, and comfortable

But here comes a new player from China, the Leapmotor C16. One might wonder what the point is of adding a Chinese model to the list, produced by a Chinese manufacturer and available only in the Chinese market. Simply because, in May, Stellantis and Leapmotor created a joint venture to sell electric vehicles in Europe. The new company will launch the city car T03 and the mid-size SUV C10 in September. Since the Leapmotor C16 does not hide its global ambitions, let’s consider that the red fox already has three legs in the henhouse.

The Leapmotor C16, 100% electric, offers three rows of seats and 6 places in total, prioritizing comfort with two real armchairs in the second row. It is exclusively offered with rear-wheel drive across the range and uses only one electric motor with 290 hp (215 kW) and 360 Nm of torque. Enough to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.3 seconds thanks mainly to its lightweight design at 2 tons. A 67.7 kWh LFP battery powers this motor, and charging from 30 to 80% takes only 15 minutes on a fast charger. With a full charge, the SUV’s range should approach 500 km.

So far, nothing too crazy; based on these simple figures, the E-5008, the 100% electric version of the lion’s large SUV, can peacefully continue its nap. Except that there will also be hybrid versions of the C16 with over 250 hp and a range of 1,000 km!

And of course, there’s the price… The electric Leapmotor C16 is priced between €21,000 and €24,000 while the hybrid variant starts below €20,000! So, of course, these are Chinese prices and customs fees following Brussels’ regulations will bring everything back to European standards. But Leapmotor’s binational Sino-European passport should allow it to escape the hammer blow and present itself at our borders as a serious competitor to the Peugeot 5008.

ALSO READ: 10 years old, what remains of the Tesla Model X?