Leapmotor says its Stellantis ties are a strength in Australia, not a liability

A rising Chinese brand embracing its 'legacy' ties

The term 'legacy brand' is often used by fast-growing Chinese automakers to characterise marques from other countries as slow-moving and behind the times, but Leapmotor, a Chinese automaker a little over a decade old, is boasting of its connection to a 'legacy' automaker. Stellantis acquired a 20 per cent stake in Leapmotor in 2023, and the two companies formed Leapmotor International, a Stellantis-led 51/49 joint venture that sees the Fiat and Jeep parent distribute the Chinese brand outside China, CarExpert reports. ¹

Stellantis itself has since announced its intention to expand the partnership. In a May 2026 statement, the automaker said the parties are assessing adding a line at its Zaragoza plant in Spain for Opel's new electric C-SUV, with potential timing from 2028, alongside bringing production of Leapmotor's B10 C-SUV there potentially from as early as 2026, plus joint purchasing initiatives and possible allocation of a Leapmotor vehicle to the Villaverde plant in Madrid from the first half of 2028. Stellantis cautioned that the initiatives remain subject to definitive agreements and customary approvals, and that there is no assurance they will be completed as described. ²

Stellantis processes as a launch advantage in Australia

In Australia, Stellantis brands are generally niche players, particularly after the slow collapse of Jeep sales, and Leapmotor Australia boss Andy Hoang acknowledged to CarExpert that awareness of Stellantis here is pretty limited compared with Europe, where it is well known along with its dealer network. Leapmotor now outsells every Stellantis brand in Australia bar Ram, which is distributed separately by Ateco Automotive, and Fiat, which is transitioning to selling only commercial vehicles. ¹

Hoang told CarExpert that Stellantis comes with a lot of global processes and established ways of handling customers, ownership and aftersales service, including how to train technicians and what workshop equipment is needed before a car even arrives. Those processes, he said, helped Leapmotor kickstart the brand here without having to develop that from scratch, which he sees as a benefit in launching a new brand. ¹

While the vehicles do not come from Stellantis, roughly half of Leapmotor's 25 sales and service locations in Australia also handle other Stellantis brands, and the two share a joint Stellantis warehouse in Melbourne storing parts, purpose-built 12 to 18 months ago and carrying the fastest-moving parts, Hoang told CarExpert. ¹

Parts support and stock management

Hoang said he had to buy six million dollars worth of parts before Leapmotor even had a car on sale in Australia, and pointed to a benchmark of 90 per cent parts availability within 24 hours that also holds locally, alongside a regional parts hub in Malaysia and air freight from China for anything else. He acknowledged some situations, such as a small clip broken in a prang, where a dealer will not have the part readily on hand, but said Leapmotor holds significant parts locally to satisfy most customers with daily deliveries to dealers across the country. ¹

The 90 per cent benchmark mirrors a figure Leapmotor International has previously claimed across its regions, while its commercial head for Enlarged Europe, Danilo Annese, quoted general European availability of 98 to 99 per cent at the B03X's international launch in Spain. CarExpert noted those figures are not directly comparable and that Leapmotor has not explained whether they measure warehouse stock, dispatch within 24 hours or delivery to a dealer; the company's head of corporate communications, Tracie Stoltenburg, said the local operation will look to provide the same 90 per cent service benchmark. ⁷

Hoang also told CarExpert, in reporting syndicated by PerthNow, that being part of Stellantis means a very rigid process manages stock and inventory, with demand forecasting and a monthly ordering cycle built around what Leapmotor thinks it can sell, rather than head office dictating shipments. He said Leapmotor holds stock of the C10 and B10, is short of the new B05 because it is so new, and that the B03X is not yet here, adding that the ordering process runs in one direction: Leapmotor puts orders in for what it wants. ⁶

Sales still small against fast-growing rivals

Leapmotor arrived in Australia in 2024 with the C10 mid-size SUV, followed last year by the B10 small SUV, with the B05 small hatch and B03X light SUV joining the lineup this year. All Leapmotor models, regardless of market, are electric vehicles or extended-range electric vehicles. CarExpert reports that to the end of September Leapmotor has delivered 1168 vehicles, up 158.4 per cent on the same period last year, which is less than Ram (2322) and Fiat (1422) but more than Peugeot (652), Jeep (442), Alfa Romeo (265) and Maserati (143). ¹

GoAuto reports the B10 is Leapmotor's local volume leader on 751 deliveries to the end of September, followed by the C10 on 384 and the B05 on 33, while globally the brand has racked up more than 1.8 million deliveries since 2019, including 666,539 this year to the end of September, with roughly 17 per cent of volume coming from outside China across activity in more than 50 countries on five continents. ⁴

The brand remains well adrift of its stated competition, however. CarExpert reports Geely, which launched several months after Leapmotor in early 2025, has delivered 23,632 vehicles year-to-date, up 639.2 per cent, while GoAuto notes BYD leads the Chinese makes on 76,414 sales this year, ahead of GWM (44,959), Chery (38,022) and Chinese-owned MG (36,832), with Leapmotor operating 25 dealerships against BYD's 120. Leapmotor is, however, outselling Deepal, which has delivered 924 vehicles, according to CarExpert. ¹⁴

Consolidation warnings and the growth case

Leapmotor executives expect casualties among the wave of new Chinese entrants. Hoang told Chasing Cars: 'This is my personal belief. I don't think all Chinese brands will survive … the volume is just not there.' He said Leapmotor is focused on growing its local product lineup, network and awareness rather than chasing sales, warned that growing too quickly can create problems with foundations such as dealer network, parts availability and technical support, and argued that heavy discounting erodes the resale values of loyal existing customers. ⁵

Speaking at the international launch of the B03X in Spain, Leapmotor International's commercial head for Enlarged Europe, Danilo Annese, told media including CarExpert that not many of the Chinese brands expanding internationally will survive, without giving numbers or naming brands, and that trust would depend on established dealer partners, reliable spare-parts support and a stable model range. He warned that constant hardware replacement could confuse customers and damage resale values, noting Leapmotor International has skipped the latest Chinese-market B10 update, including its 800V electrical architecture, rather than replace a recently launched export model. ⁷

Hoang told GoAuto, at the local launch of the B05, that the product stacks up on price, features, value, safety and independent reviews, and that he believes Leapmotor will not be among the brands to drop out of the Australian market race. Chasing Cars reports the lineup doubles from two to four models by the end of this year, and that Hoang remains committed to the brand's 2024 launch commitment of six vehicles in three years, sees opportunities for a seven-seat SUV and a sporty B05 variant, and says the ute segment has been discussed with China. ⁴⁵

Model selection is deliberately selective, according to PerthNow's syndication of CarExpert's reporting. Leapmotor skipped the T03 micro-car locally despite exporting it to Europe and the UK, is keen to offer the C16 and D19 three-row SUVs among others, and has no immediate plans to bring the large D99 people mover here, with Hoang calling that vehicle probably lower on the priority list but adding 'never say never'. Leapmotor was the 14th best-selling auto brand in China in 2025 and outsells Haval, Deepal and Xpeng at home. ⁶

Privacy scrutiny and the Stellantis compliance argument

Leapmotor was name-checked in a recent ABC Four Corners report on customer data security and privacy for its use of cameras supplied by Chinese company Dahua, whose hardware was banned from Australian federal government buildings in 2023 following similar bans in the US and UK over spyware fears. Shadow Minister for Defence James Paterson told Four Corners it is 'extraordinary' that vehicles with these cameras are allowed to drive around government buildings, saying Dahua has been directly implicated in human rights abuses and mass surveillance of Uyghur people in China, CarExpert reports. ³

Hoang told Australian media including CarExpert that the cameras are from Dahua as far as Leapmotor has been advised, but that the vehicles have been independently tested for privacy certification, the cameras are designed only to help with safety-driving functionalities, and footage is captured solely via a dashcam that exports over USB only. He said only about two in every 100 customers raised data concerns after the report, and that Leapmotor's Stellantis association means it complies with the European Union's GDPR, which he described as a higher standard than applies in Australia, calling that an advantage of having Stellantis as the partner. ³

The Stellantis relationship is also framed as growing rather than cannibalising the group's customer base. Leapmotor International's global head of brand strategy, product and marketing, Francesco Giacalone, told media including CarExpert that, with 150,000 sales on the counter, nine out of 10 of its international customers would not otherwise have purchased a Stellantis brand. He said Leapmotor buyers are on average eight to nine years younger than established-brand buyers, positioning Leapmotor as an affordable innovation brand rather than a budget brand, though CarExpert's own analysis notes the Australian market will be the real test as sales grow from a low base. ⁸