01/03/2026

Contributing Editor Keshy Dhillon / keshy@piston.my Editorial

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SUNDAY | MAR 1, 2026

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Almost perfect! Leapmotor B10 scores top marks on all fronts but one

BY KESHY DHILLON

YOU may have already heard of Leapmotor by now, but the company has had quite a colourful history. One steeped in technology and global conquest. Unlike regular, traditional car compa nies, Leapmotor first began as a tech company rather than a car company. The company relied on itself rather than external suppliers. Choosing to develop its own software, chips, and other components in house. This gave the company control over how it wanted its cars to drive like as well as laid the tech foundation that differen tiated it from the rest. Especially car com panies from its homeland of China. There were many pivotal moments for Leapmotor from the day it was founded in 2015 to the day it was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2022 where it raised over US$800 million (RM3.2b). But everything changed for Leapmotor in 2023. That year, global automotive giant Stellantis invested €1.5 billion (RM7.5b) to acquire a 21% stake in Leapmotor. Then came Leapmotor International through a 51/49 joint venture led by Stellantis to manage all sales outside of China. This gave Stellantis access to much needed electric technology and in return Leapmotor received instant access to thousands of dealerships worldwide. In 2024, Leapmotor reached Malaysia to much fanfare. After the dust settled, Leapmotor settled as an outlier in the Malaysian EV landscape. It was the car people bought when they wanted some thing high-tech, spacious, comfortable and drove well. The C10 was tasked to spearhead Leapmotor’s salvo into the Malaysian market, and one of its key selling points was that its handling was “tuned by Maserati”. Yes, that same Maserati that runs on Ferrari engines. Was it all hearsay though? The inter net is a weird place these days where fic tion becomes fact. We had to find out for ourselves, so we reached out to Maserati SpA, the mother ship of the Italian marque based in Modena, Italy. In an email sent out to their press department, we asked, “Is it true that Leapmotor cars are tuned by the good folks at Maserti?” A day later we received a reply from Maserati’s global communication man ager who said, “Some months ago – offi

That chequered design DRL is very unique.

The main headlamp cluster lays beneath the DRL.

The frunk is convenient.

WHAT IS IT? The Leapmotor B10 is a c-segment SUV that calls the likes of the Proton e.MAS 7 as direct competitors. In terms of dimensions, it is just slightly smaller than the Proton and in terms of design, it offers the same, clean and sleek design that we first saw with its bigger, d segment sized sibling, the Leapmotor C10. WHAT DOES IT OFFER? Around the exterior, the B10 comes with full-LED headlights that includes a lightbar and this is the same for the rear as well. It rolls on 18-inch multispoke wheels shod in Ling Long Sport Master tyres. That is probably the first thing you might want to update about the car as you are probably better off with a set of Michelin EV tyres, both in terms of performance and durabil ity. Tyres are too important to mess around with, it’s always better to go with tried and tested brands rather than find out the hard way. The B10 generally looks good with a modern silhouette that is typical of EV’s of this segment and price range.

Boot space is generous.

The doubled layered boot floor gives you extra storage.

cial Stellantis (Maserati’s parent company) confirmed that Stellantis/Maserati engineers col laborated with Leapmotor to tune the chassis of models like the C10. “This collaboration is separate from the joint venture between Stellantis and Leapmotor, named Leapmotor International, which handles the interna tional sales of Leapmotor vehicles statements from

through the Stellantis network. I confirm that what above-mentioned is still accu rate,” wrote Andrea Pallard. Lo and behold. How many EV’s out there can boast that the chassis of their cars have been sprinkled with Italian bril liance? And that is what sets Leapmotor apart from the rest of the field in Malaysia. And now the company has a new car for us, it is called the B10.