Stellantis Leap_
Stellantis Leap_
For LeapMotor’s America’s debut under Stellantis, we tossed the "budget Chinese EV" playbook out completely. Instead, we launched a high-quality, locally built, electric vehicle as LATAM’s affordable luxury contender—taking a completely unknown brand in the region and shooting straight for gold status
The Challenge
Chinese autos faced a massive branding paradox. Consumers worldwide were skeptical after being burned by early Chinese EV entrants like BYD, labeling the category as "cheap." Worse, a near-total lack of charging and visible dealership infrastructure made these EVs a tough sell in the region. With no budget, and no time, the brand had one thing going for it - zero regional awareness.
The Insight
When nobody knows who you are, you can be whoever you want to be. Since the market had no preconceived notions of the brand, we didn't have to launch as a "budget" car, but instead, an affordable luxury. And by making clear ties to Stellantis’ existing infrastructure, we bypass anxiety through leveraging well-tested networks and Stellantis’ global cachet.
The Solution
We proposed supplanting the missing physical dealership grid with a conversational AI experience bridging Web and WhatsApp. Existing where LATAM consumers already play, this virtual showroom agent is engineered to handle customer education, build trust, and seamlessly drive high-intent users straight into booking flows for preorders and pop-up test drives.
By anchoring the vision in an omnipresent WhatsApp conversational interface, the launch framework provided a scalable roadmap to bypass traditional dealer and infrastructure barriers—turning regional skepticism into high-intent engagement. The resulting launch strategy redefined how could enter a new market—not as a quiet budget alternative, but as a bold, tech-forward affordable luxury disruptor.
To solve for high-fidelity assets on a lean budget, our team also developed a creative proof-of-concept using node-based generative AI pipelines. By seamlessly swapping global backdrops and interchanging vehicles, we demonstrated how the vehicles could be natively placed in premium Mexican environments.
