Over a year since launch, I asked Damien how corporate business has been for Leapmotor in the UK.

Dally said: “In truth, our retail mix has been dominant, which I think is a positive. We're about 68% retail. I say it's positive because I think it's probably easier to get short-term fleet business more quickly. I want long-term, true fleet.

“We're at 68.3% retail, and 99% BEV – unlike every other Chinese brand! We've got to do a job for Stellantis. Secondly, Leapmotor is a technology brand, but an electric brand first. We are producing hybrid range-extending versions of our two volume SUVs, but first and foremost, we are an electric brand.

“95% of our retail sales are new to Stellantis, so we're attracting new people to the brand. To put a number on it, year-to-date we've registered about 4,600 cars, and 68% of those are retail. Of the remaining 32%, there's a handful of Motability sales – and I really do mean a handful. We're not really chasing that, and the rest is true fleet.

“It would be very easy to get short-cycle business, but I don't want any of that. The area I'm really interested in is salary sacrifice, which I think fits hand in glove with the whole principle of Leapmotor. Salary sacrifice has mainly been through Octopus and Tusker – they are very, very big in this area.”

So I pushed Damien on whether it has been a great first year for Leapmotor in fleet.

Dally said: “The beauty is that the Stellantis fleet team is able to sell across all brands. Leapmotor is the ninth brand in the portfolio, and they're out there all the time speaking to fleet customers.

“I just want true fleet and salary sacrifice. We have done 300 rental deals so far. Whilst we’ll end up growing a lot this year, I don’t see that number growing much if at all. From a retail perspective, because at the end of the day, when they come back, they're retail. If your new car offer is £299 down and £299 per month, how cheap is the used car offering going to be? I don't know, but it's going to be low!

“There's nothing quite like the visibility of cars on the road, but they're only going to be a good used-car offering if there's a consumer offer to match. Plus, you're going to be competing with your new-car offer, so it's not something we're going to do in volume.”

I moved on to ask Damien which Leapmotor models are proving most popular with fleet customers.

Dally said: “Initially the C10, and now the B10. The B10 has just overtaken the C10, which is natural because the B10 is a C-segment SUV.

“Actually, we thought the T03 was going to be the volume model, but it turned out completely the other way around. This is really good news because, basically, at £16,000 new and shipping from China, your margins are tight!”

We're speaking at the international launch of the new B05 hatch, so I asked Damien how it will fit into the current range for fleet customers.

Dally said: “In terms of where the B05 fits in, I think, basically, not everyone wants an SUV. This car has got all the functionality of an SUV, but looks quite funky, a bit sportier, and even the colour palette is a bit bolder.”

So I suggested to Damien that 2026 must be another opportunity to sell more Leapmotor models.

Dally said: “I want to maintain and grow the salary sacrifice business with the new models that we've got because these new models appeal to new customers.

“So it's very much a case of hanging on to what we've got and growing fleet in a healthy kind of way. Then, bit by bit, gaining trust, because I think fleet does take a bit longer. We've got a good story. We just need to tell our story. The trouble is that, with a lot of these fleet operators, there are so many Chinese brands. What we've got to get across is the fact that we've got a unique proposition because we're backed by Stellantis, the fourth-largest automaker.

“We're definitely in this for the long haul, not here today and gone tomorrow. It is a confusing time to be a consumer, and it's probably a confusing time to be a fleet manager because there are so many of these new brands.

“The other thing that's important for fleet business, is that you need national coverage. We've already got 80 dealers, and our aim is to get to 110 by the end of the year. This is super-important because if you've got black holes in the country and a fleet customer needs attention in a certain area, then it's a pain in the neck.

“So we're expanding quite a lot. Every dealer group that's taken on Leapmotor wants more Leapmotor sites. We're expanding further with Arnold Clark, Evans Halshaw, Drive Group, Advance Group down south, and Snows. Snows started with two sites – they've got five now!”