Leapmotor's New Vehicle Targeted by Coordinated Smear Campaign

[Public Opinion Turmoil] Within 24 hours of the Leapmotor D99 launch, multiple nearly identical negative articles—titled '72-Hour Debacle'—surfaced simultaneously.

Core Development: Fabricated Future Incidents in Smear Articles

Leapmotor COO Xu Jun publicly exposed on June 26 that certain self-media outlets mass-published structurally identical negative pieces on the very night of the D99 launch, fabricating claims that the vehicle would suffer three major reputation collapses and critical flaws in dynamic evaluations within the next 72 hours. At that time, the vehicle had not yet been delivered to customers, making any real-world testing impossible.

Key Data: First Model Priced Above RMB 300,000

The Leapmotor D99 is offered in six variants: the range-extended version priced from RMB 249,800 to 309,800, and the battery-electric version from RMB 259,800 to 319,800. This marks Leapmotor’s first model with a price exceeding RMB 300,000, positioning it as a competitor to the Toyota Alphard.

Industry Impact: A New Type of Reputational Risk Distorting Market Expectations

Such 'prophetic smear campaigns' not only violate journalistic ethics but also risk misleading consumer judgment, reflecting the increasingly intense and abnormal public opinion tactics emerging in today’s fiercely competitive new energy vehicle market.