Leapmotor says a dual-cab ute is on its list for Australia, but no platform exists yet

What has been said about a Leapmotor ute

A ute remains an early-stage consideration rather than a confirmed Australian model. Leapmotor Australia boss Andy Hoang told Open Road (the NRMA's publication) at the B05 hatch launch that the segment sits on the brand's list of priorities: "We know there's a ute segment out there that we've been talking to China about," he said. No confirmed design, powertrain or launch timing for such a vehicle appears in any of the company's comments reported to date. ¹

Hoang indicated the ute ranks above other unaddressed segments. While Leapmotor does not have a ute in its global portfolio, he told Open Road the brand would do its research and make an informed decision on whether to enter the segment, explaining that although the company has a people mover already available in China, "something like a ute would be higher on the list than a people mover". He also flagged a larger seven-seat SUV and a sportier B05 hatch variant as other opportunities, with no Australian launch confirmed for any of them. ¹

The platform problem

The clearest boundary around the idea comes from Leapmotor International itself. Speaking with Australian media in China, the joint venture's Global Head of Brand Strategy, Product and Marketing, Francesco Giacalone, told CarExpert there was "room for surprises" and that "anything is on the table" for a commercial vehicle, but when asked directly whether Leapmotor had a ladder-frame platform, he said: "In this moment, the platform does not exist". A ladder-frame architecture underpins most of Australia's best-selling dual-cabs, including the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and Mitsubishi Triton. ²

CarExpert reported that Leapmotor's engineering team has been exploring multiple body styles based on its latest LEAP 3.5 platform, including the possibility of a dual-cab ute, and that the company has previously said any ute project would need combined global demand from markets such as Australia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil to justify production volumes. Australia alone would probably not justify the volume required for a new model, though combining demand from other ute-friendly markets could create the critical mass needed for a business case. ²

Giacalone's comments are not a dramatic shift on an earlier position. In April 2025, Leapmotor International CEO Tianshu Xin told Australian media the brand did not have a ute in its current product plan, noting pickups are not a major focus in China because the segment is small and utes face city-centre restrictions there, while not ruling out future entry, CarExpert reported. The latest remarks suggest that stance holds, with greater emphasis now placed on the Asia-Pacific region as Leapmotor looks beyond China and Europe. ²

A competitive and growing segment

Utes have been the most popular vehicle type in Australia for a decade. CarExpert's figures show the Ford Ranger was the best-selling model in 2025 with 56,555 deliveries and the HiLux third with 51,297, while the Isuzu D-Max (26,839) and Mitsubishi Triton also placed inside the top 20. In March 2026 the Ranger (4452) and HiLux (4167) again topped the charts, with the D-Max and Triton inside the top 12. ²

Chinese brands have already moved into the segment Leapmotor is still studying. CarExpert lists established arrivals including the BYD Shark 6, GWM Cannon and Cannon Alpha, LDV T60 and Terron 9, Foton Tunland V7 and V9, MG U9 and JAC T9, with Chery, Jetour and GAC among those with models on the way. For Leapmotor, CarExpert's analysis frames this as both an opportunity, given Australian appetite for utes and the emergence of electrified dual-cabs, and a challenge, because the brand lacks the core architecture for a conventional workhorse ute. ²

Where the ute sits in Leapmotor's Australian line-up

Leapmotor arrived in Australia in late 2024 with the C10 mid-size SUV distributed through the Stellantis-led Leapmotor International joint venture, followed by the B10 small SUV, with the B05 hatch and B03X light SUV joining the line-up this year, CarExpert reported. All Leapmotor models, regardless of market, are electric vehicles or extended-range electric vehicles. At its 2024 launch the brand committed to six models in Australia within three years, and Hoang told Open Road the seven-seat SUV, sporty hatch and ute would join those models further down the pipeline, none with confirmed local timing. ³¹

The brand's local sales remain modest. Open Road reported Leapmotor had sold barely 1000 units in Australia so far this year against far larger volumes for BYD, GWM, Chery and MG, while CarExpert cited figures showing 1168 deliveries to the end of September, up 158.4 per cent on the same period last year. By comparison, Geely, which launched in early 2025, had delivered 23,632 vehicles year to date, up 639.2 per cent, according to the same CarExpert report. ³¹

Hoang told Open Road the brand's approach is deliberately long-term and sustainable rather than volume-driven, saying it would not resort to aggressive price cutting because doing so "kills the residual of all the customers that have already been loyal to you". Leapmotor is on track to reach 25 dealership outlets nationally in the coming months and is striving for close to 40 locations, he said, adding a caution that he does not believe all Chinese brands will survive in Australia because the volume is not there for all of them. ¹

What remains unresolved

The most concrete technical context is the platform gap. Leapmotor's export focus, as CarExpert reported, is built around passenger vehicles such as the C10, B10 and B05, and the company's current architectures are not ladder-frame designs of the kind conventional dual-cabs require. Giacalone's admission that the platform "does not exist" at present means any future ute, particularly one aiming to rival the Ranger or HiLux, remains some way off rather than being an imminent project. ²

What remains unresolved is whether the vehicle, if developed, would follow the brand's all-electric or extended-range approach or adopt another layout suited to a ladder-frame ute, and no powertrain, specification or timeframe has been confirmed by the company. What can be said with confidence is that Leapmotor Australia has been discussing the ute segment with its counterparts in China, that executives in Australia and internationally have repeatedly expressed interest, and that a production decision would depend on global demand beyond Australia alone. ¹²