In 2013, the Sino-Japanese joint venture GAC Toyota announced a plan to introduce a new brand electric cars Leahead to the domestic Chinese market. Its announcement was the Ranz Concept crossover prototype presented at the Shanghai Auto Show.[1][2] Leahead's next study was the urban hatchback i1 EV Concept presented in April 2015 at the Beijing Auto Show, closer in form to the future first production model.[3]
The series variant Leahead i1 was presented in November 2015, being a twin design to the second generation Toyota Yaris produced by GAC Toyota on the local Chinese market in 2008 –2013.[4] The car remained the only design offered under the Leahead brand and did not go into mass production except for a trial copy. The company retained a marginal position in the alliance in favor of GAC Toyota focusing on offering co-built Electric Cars as part of the Japanese company's local portfolio from 2018.
^Wu, Yutong (20 November 2015). "广州车展:广汽丰田领志i1量产版首亮相" [Guangzhou Auto Show: GAC Toyota's Leahead i1 production version debut]. xcar.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 June 2019.
^E, Zhichao; Wu, Xiaoqin (5 July 2018). "上半年共召回汽车486万辆 日产、奥迪、福特召回数量较高" [In the first half of the year, a total of 4.86 million vehicles were recalled. Nissan, Audi and Ford recalled a higher number]. auto.people.com.cn (in Chinese). People's Daily - Auto Channel. Retrieved 14 January 2019.