New electric SUV from Chinese brand Leapmotor spotted testing in Australia

Earlier this year, the Australian arrival of a new Chinese brand called Leapmotor was announced after global automotive giant Stellantis formed a joint venture to bring it to the world.

Now, the first sighting of the Leapmotors C10 electric SUV came to the surface after a light grey car was spotted driving in Melbourne. It was spotted by Ray G and shared by EV YouTuber Tom on X.

In the pictures shared, the SUV from the rear gives a very Porsche Cayenne-like look and appears to have rear-tinted windows.

The side shots of the car show the repeater cameras which like Tesla models are likely to allow the car to see around it for assisted driving and doubles as a driver safety feature.

Looking at the left side of the car shows the charge port located in a similar rear end to that found in Tesla model SUV.

For some background, the Stellantis group already owns popular global brands like Jeep, Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen and more, and has a 51 per cent share in the Leapmotor joint venture.

This venture is known in the market as Leapmotor International and the partnership with the Stellantis Group came after it invested €1.5 billion to acquire approximately 21% equity in Leapmotor back in October 2023.

In May this year, news of Leapmotor International’s expansion into Europe and markets like Australia emerged.

For the European market, Leapmotor International was to start with two electric models in its lineup. This will include the Toyota Yaris-sized low-cost T03 and the C10 SUV which has just been spotted in Australia.

According to the announcement of models heading to Europe, the company also plans to release at least one new model every year, starting with another SUV in 2025. This is looking likely to be the Leapmotor C16 SUV that has just been released in China.

The C10 is a large family SUV that has received a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating, ready for sale in the European market. Its battery pack can deliver up to 420 km of WLTP range on a single charge.

In China, the pricing of the C10 SUV starts at under $A27,000, making it one of the most affordable vehicles in its class.

Leapmotor International’s local launch is expected to be in Q4 this year. More information on the Australian lineup, pricing, specs and launch dates will be released in the coming months.

This is exciting news for the electric SUV segment with another electric SUV being tested on our local roads.

The C10 will join a number of other electric SUV models such as those from Smart, Xpeng, Zeekr and others which are also expected to have customer deliveries beginning in Q4 2024.

We look forward to following these developments as more information on this brand and its upcoming models comes to hand.