Leapmotor says it isn’t overloaded with vehicle supply in Australia, and that it's being discerning about which models it releases here.
“This is one of the great things of being part of Stellantis... there is a very rigid process in place to manage our stock and inventory,” Leapmotor Australia boss Andy Hoang told CarExpert.
“We're not just dictated by our head office that says, ‘You need to sell a thousand cars, we'll just ship you a thousand cars, and you guys work it out’.
“Our demand forecasting is all, ‘What do we think we can sell? What do we need? How much stock do we want to hold?’ and the ordering process monthly cycle goes through that rigorous process for us. So we're in really good shape from our point of view in terms of the stock.”
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Leapmotor arrived here in 2024 with the C10 mid-size SUV, with the smaller B10 following in 2025.
The Chinese auto brand is now launching the B05 small hatch, with the B03X light SUV due to arrive in showrooms in November.
“We've got stock of C10 and B10, which are the vehicles that are here. Obviously, we don't have enough B05s at the moment because they're so new. And B03X is not here,” said Mr Hoang.
“All those products go through the same process where we put our orders in for what we want – it's not the other way around,” he added.
In contrast, other Chinese brands such as BYD have been reported as having so much stock on the ground they've had to find unconventional storage locations, such as theme park parking lots, to store them.
Leapmotor not only says it isn't receiving a glut of unwanted stock here, but that it's also avoiding launching too many new models in quick succession as it pursues more sustainable growth.
In contrast, MG launched five new models in Australia in 2025. The brand now has 14 models, up from just three in 2022.
Meanwhile, BYD has launched five new models over the past 12 months, and its lineup now comprises 12 models, up from just one in 2022.
Leapmotor remains a minnow in Australia compared to those giants, despite being the 14th best-selling auto brand in China in 2025 and outselling Haval, Deepal and Xpeng, among others.
It has a much wider model lineup in its home market, ranging from the pint-size A05 city car to the D19 large SUV.
But Leapmotor hasn’t brought every one of its right-hand drive models to Australia. It didn’t, for example, introduce the T03 micro-car here despite exporting it to Europe and the UK.
As for newer models, while it is keen to offer the C16 and D19 three-row SUVs, among others, it has no immediate plans to bring the large D99 people mover here, despite Chinese brands such as BYD, Denza, GAC and Xpeng all introducing people movers locally.
Only one of these is positioned as a direct rival to the Kia Carnival, which accounts for the lion’s share of people mover sales in Australia, with the others aiming further upmarket – a decidedly niche play in Australia.
“Let’s just say that versus the other cars that I’ve rattled off here earlier, that’s probably lower on the priority list than those vehicles, [but] never say never,” said Mr Hoang.
To the end of September, Leapmotor has delivered 666,539 vehicles globally this year, up 68.5 per cent. However, only around 17 per cent of the brand’s sales come from outside of China, where its vehicles are distributed by Leapmotor International, a joint venture with Stellantis.
In Australia, Leapmotor has delivered 1168 vehicles year-to-date, up 158.4 per cent but still well below the likes of Geely (23,632, up 639.2 per cent).