Slow-selling Chinese brand a sleeping giant

Leapmotor could be a sleeping giant on the cusp of a global sales surge despite its slow start in Australia.. Unlike its headline-grabbing rivals BYD, Geely, and Chery, Leapmotor has struggled for traction locally.. Yet overseas, efforts to make its model range more globally appealing have granted the brand strong growth which, according to sales data compiled by Nikkei Asia, now means it outsold once-giants like Mitsubishi and Subaru in the most recent quarter of the year..

Now projected to sell one million vehicles for the full year 2026, the brand is up 84 per cent globally and is set to surpass both Mitsubishi and Subaru over the same time period.. Much of this, Nikkei reports, is down to the brand rapidly carving up markets in Europe where both local giants and Japanese imports are struggling to compete with Leapmotor's aggressive pricing and rapid rollout with the help of Peugeot owner Stellantis, which has a significant stake in the Chinese fledgling.. You could hardly tell in Australia, where Leapmotor has hardly had the same impact as its big-name Chinese rivals..

Locally it is up an incredible-sounding 168.2 per cent, but its 1022 units so far is off the back of a very low sales base after the misfire of its original C10 electric mid-sizer, and a slow but improved start for the smaller B10.. The C10 has moved 331 units in 2026, down 13.1 per cent, paling in comparison to the very similar Geely EX5 which has managed 10,737 units over the same period, and this is despite the introduction of a range-extender hybrid variant to the range.. The B10 meanwhile has moved 677 units locally, against the better-selling Jaecoo J5 which has done roughly 10 times that in fully electric form..

Leapmotor's yearly total of just 1022 units (supplemented by the recent addition of early examples of the B05 hatchback), is a far cry from Mitsubishi's 30,476 total, or Subaru's 19,125.. However, things can change quickly.. Not only has the B10 hugely improved Leapmotor's sales year-on-year, but Mitsubishi, Subaru, and even Nissan are on the way down in the face of Leapmotor's contemporaries, which are carving up the top-10-selling new car brands in Australia..

Subaru and Nissan have already been booted out of the top-10, while Mitsubishi is barely holding on.. Leapmotor, meanwhile will be hoping to capitalise on its momentum for the rest of 2026 thanks to the arrival of its B05 Golf-sized hatchback and B03X compact crossover, which is shaping up to be Australia's most affordable new electric SUV.. When it gets here in the fourth quarter, the brand said it will be priced at around $30,000, drive-away, to undercut natural rivals like the BYD Atto 2, which currently costs $31,990, before on-roads..

For 2027 the brand could have more up its sleeve too, with the D19 large SUV.. Measuring in at over five meters long and featuring a range-extended hybrid powertrain, it also features EV-sized batteries for big electric driving range and combined power output of up to 300kW/520Nm.. Stay tuned for more on Leapmotor's expansion plans as it rolls out the B05 and B03X for the remainder of 2026..