By Sarah Walker
8 January 2025
How you can be amongst the first people in the UK to test drive new Leapmotors from Stellantis.
Croxdale Group Durham has become the first location in the North East fully ready to offer customers a chance to test drive the new Leapmotor models, from Stellantis and Leapmotor.
At the end of a year of significant investment and growth for the Dealer Group, Croxdale opened the doors to its new Leap Motor Showroom – and is also introducing Jeep and Alfa Romeo this month.
Anthony Rockingham, managing director of Croxdale Group, reflects on an impressive 2024 for the Durham operation, located on the A167 at Croxdale.
“Despite a challenging economic climate, it’s been an impressive year for Croxdale Group Durham, as the size of our site expands significantly,” Anthony says.
“We had a record month for sales in September and have performed well throughout the year, which just goes to show that investing in your business despite difficult trading conditions pays off.
“During 2024, we also maintained our position as the top performing DS retailer in the UK and Graham Elliott, our general sales manager was recently presented with an award in recognition of this.
“The demand for the high-quality affordable MG cars, which we have enjoyed selling for three years now, has also proven to be a huge success story for us.”
Leapmotor is exploding internationally, since Stellantis became a strategic shareholder of the group in October last year.
It claims to offer the UK’s best value electric cars – and now, customers in the North East can take a test drive of its C10 and the chic and agile city car the T03 at Croxdale Group.
Anthony says: “Leap has now landed in the UK – and we are very excited to be one of the first dealers to go live with it.
“This represents another coup for Stellantis and being the size of organisation that it is, customers can be assured that this is a high-quality brand with a great reputation and their new car will provide them with a reliable car for many years to come.
“This is coupled with the fact Croxdale Group is a manufacturer approved centre for services and repairs to support customers to keep their vehicle in warranty – and customers can be certain they will receive high quality aftersales support.”
Leapmotors are fully electric, and Anthony says the launch of Leap is perfect timing, with an increasing target in line with the ZEV mandate for 2025.
The UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate represents the Government’s plan to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, primarily electric cars and vans, by setting annual sales targets for manufacturers.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that all new vehicles sold in the UK are zero-emission by 2035, but in 2024, manufacturers were already required to ensure that 22% of their new car sales and 10% of new van sales were of zero-emission vehicles.
The target for 2030 is that 80% of new car sales and 70% of new van sales must be zero-emission, and a 100% target is set for both cars and vans in 2035, effectively banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from that time.
These targets are designed to increase incrementally each year to facilitate a gradual transition.
Anthony says Leap offers the “best value electric cars on the road” starting from a price point of £15,990 and being “unparalleled” in terms of the specification you get for this price.
“When the staff were looking at the cars coming off the transporter, they were commenting on how nice they are,” Anthony says.
“The pricing of such high-quality electric vehicles is second to none when it comes to buying a brand new electric car.”
With the significant expansion of the Croxdale Durham site, including a state-of-the-art after sales and repair centre the company recently invested £1M in, creating 20 new jobs, in addition to a car and van hire offering, Anthony is optimistic about 2025 for the firm.
He says: “We have started 2025 in a strong position as a business, having invested significantly in improving our offering throughout 2024.
“With the introduction of Leap, Jeep and Alfa Romeo to our site, we are now geared up to supply an even wider range of customers with the right car for them – and we are hopeful we will have another strong year in 2025.”
For more information, or to book a test drive, visit www.croxdalegroup.com
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