Chinese automaker Leapmotor is leveraging its association with Stellantis, the European-American automotive giant, as a strategic advantage in Australia. While the term “legacy brand” often carries negative connotations among fast-growing Chinese automakers, Leapmotor sees its partnership with Stellantis as a benefit. This collaboration is formalized through Leapmotor International, a joint venture led by Stellantis with a 51/49 ownership split, enabling the distribution of Leapmotor vehicles outside China.
Stellantis acquired a 20% stake in Leapmotor in 2023, forming a joint venture called Leapmotor International. This partnership allows Stellantis, the parent company of Fiat and Jeep, to distribute Leapmotor vehicles outside China.
Stellantis’ Global Reach, Local Challenges
In Australia, Stellantis brands have struggled to gain mainstream traction. Jeep sales have declined significantly, and other brands like Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati remain niche players. However, Leapmotor has quickly gained ground, outselling all Stellantis brands except Ram and Fiat. To the end of September, Leapmotor has delivered 1,168 vehicles, up 158.4% on the same period last year. While that’s less than Ram (2,322, down 8.0%) and Fiat (1,422, up 0.8%), it’s more than Peugeot (652, down 39.7%), Jeep (442, down 69.9%), Alfa Romeo (265, down 39.2%), and Maserati (143, down 33.8%).
Andy Hoang, Leapmotor Australia’s boss, acknowledges that Stellantis’ brand awareness in Australia is limited compared to Europe. However, he highlights the benefits of Stellantis’ global processes and established customer handling procedures. “The strengths in Australia is that Stellantis does come with a lot of global processes,” Hoang said. “It comes with established ways of handling customers, handling ownership, handling aftersales service.”
Established Processes, Faster Launch
So all of those processes helped us kickstart the brand here in Australia without having to try to develop that from scratch. So I do see it as providing us with benefits in trying to launch this new brand.” The brand’s lineup in Australia includes the C10 mid-size SUV, B10 small SUV, B05 small hatch, and B03X light SUV, all of which are either electric vehicles (EVs) or extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs).
Leapmotor’s sales figures in Australia are impressive, outperforming other Chinese EV brands like Deepal (924 vehicles, up 269.6%). However, it’s well down on rival brand Geely, which launched several months after Leapmotor and has delivered 23,632 vehicles year-to-date, up 639.2%.
Leapmotor‘s success in Australia can be partly attributed to its partnership with Stellantis. Roughly half of Leapmotor’s 25 sales and service locations in Australia also handle other Stellantis brands. “The vehicles obviously don’t come from Stellantis… But having that distribution network and those processes in place has enabled us to launch the brand successfully here,” said Mr Hoang.
Parts Availability, Future Expansion
Leapmotor has invested heavily in parts availability, with a $6 million initial investment in parts inventory. This is supported by a joint Stellantis warehouse in Melbourne, purpose-built 12-18 months ago, which stores fast-moving parts. “I think I had to buy six million dollars worth of parts before I even had a car here. To our process of ensuring that we have the right aftersales support for customers. That benchmark of 90 per cent [parts availability within 24 hours], that’s something that is also true for here in Australia,” said Mr Hoang. Additional parts are available in Malaysia and China for air freight when needed.
Looking ahead, Leapmotor plans to expand its Australian network, aiming for 35-40 locations. This includes opening their first location in the Northern Territory, though a specific timeframe for this expansion was not provided.
