China’s Leapmotor is one of a many new carmakers begging for Australian’s attention with tech-heavy electrified vehicles.
It has just launched locally with the C10, which is an electric mid-size SUV rival to the likes of the Tesla Model Y, Kia EV5, Deepal S07, and Xpeng G6, among others.
Speaking with CarExpert, Andy Hoang, head of Leapmotor Australia said there are “three key pillars” to how the fledgling brand will stand out from the masses.
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“So the first bit is tech … and how it all works together. I think that is going to make us stand out [for] customers and the ingenuity that comes with it,” Mr Hoang said.
“Some of the innovative designs, like the seats folding back flat. I think those are things that are surprising from a product standpoint, that’s going to make us stand out.
“[The] second element being the accessibility.
“Our brand is about accessible. Taking that technology and how do you make it available to the masses. We’re not nice, we’re not exclusive.
“We want to be somewhere in the middle that … [the] majority of average Australians can actually look at our brand.
“So I think that our value proposition has to be one of the key standouts for us. And I get this great technology, but I’m not paying $100,000-plus for it. I’m getting it in … my price range, what I’m expecting.
“I think the third thing that stands out versus everyone else is probably our network.
“We have an established company in Stellantis that’s bringing this product here. We’ve already got dealers … [that] are servicing customers now.
“They’ve got clear processes on what do we need to do to look after customers from sale to aftersales, to when they have a problem.”
While Mr Hoang says tech is a key pillar for Leapmotor, the C10 is one of the few new vehicles sold in Australia without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, with owners limited to using their phones for Bluetooth and remote services.
While the Leapmotor C10’s infotainment system includes an application store so owners can download certain programs such as Spotify – as in the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 – it doesn’t have the ability to mirror a user’s smartphone to its 14.6-inch touchscreen.
Leapmotor is a young company, founded in China in 2015. It exclusively offers EVs and range-extender vehicles, the latter of which also incorporate a combustion engine.
In October 2023, automotive conglomerate Stellantis – which owns Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Maserati and Fiat, among others – announced it would invest €1.5 billion (A$2.5 billion) in Leapmotor, purchasing about 21 per cent of the Chinese carmaker.
It obtained a controlling 51 per cent stake in Leapmotor International, a joint venture between the two carmakers, which is now exporting vehicles to markets like Australia and Europe.
Although the C10 EV is the only car Leapmotor currently offers in Australia, the C10 REEV (Range Extender Electric Vehicle) is due in the first half of 2025, and the B10 small electric SUV is due later this year.
“We plan to cover 65 per cent of the Australian segments in the next three years,” Mr Hoang told CarExpert in November last year.
“[We plan to] have up to six models in the next three years.”
Here, Leapmotor has tapped both Stellantis’ existing dealers plus some new partners. It currently has 12 dealerships across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory.
Mr Hoang indicated there are plans to double its dealer network by the end of 2025, bringing the network to between 20 and 30 dealers.
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