2025 Leapmotor B10 cut-price electric SUV reveal confirmed
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Australia-bound Chinese brand will pull the covers off its BYD and Chery electric compact SUV rival at this year's Paris motor show.
The 2025 Leapmotor B10 small electric SUV will be officially unveiled at the upcoming Paris motor show in France, and may land in Australian showrooms in 2025 as part of the brand's global expansion.
The Chinese electric car maker – 51 per cent owned by Stellantis, the parent company of Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep among others – teased several images of a heavily camouflaged B10 on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The post also confirmed the B10 five-door small electric SUV – similar in size to the Hyundai Kona, Chery Omoda E5 and BYD Atto 3 electric SUVs sold in Australia – will be unveiled at the 2024 Paris Motor Show on 14 October.
It's the third Leapmotor model set for export markets as the car maker expands globally into Europe, the United Kingdom, South America and Australia.
The Leapmotor brand plans to launch in Australia by the end of this year with its first vehicle the 2025 C10 electric SUV – but is yet to confirm any further additions to the local line-up.
That may include the city size T03 hatchback – also as a global model, built in Poland – set to go on sale in Europe this month, as well as the B10, thought to be one of the 'unnamed SUVs' in the car maker's future line-up.
The B10 will be the first vehicle from Leapmotor to use its new 'B platform' bringing its latest 'Leap 3.5' global electrical architecture.
The new architecture is expected to build on previous versions' which include high-tech lidar-based autonomous driving and Qualcomm SnapDragon 8295-chip-powered 'smart cabin'.
Given the aggressive pricing Leapmotor has announced so far, the B10 is expected to undercut its main competitors, with the rival Chery Omoda E5 electric SUV priced in Australia from $42,990 before on-road costs.
The Australia-bound C10 SUV will go on sale in the UK in October 2024 from £36,500 ($AU71,180) – currently almost £10,000 ($AU19,500) cheaper than the Tesla Model Y.
UK pricing for the Leapmotor T03 hatchback is £15,995 ($AU31,200), making it one of the cheapest electric cars on sale there behind the price-conscious Dacia Spring starting at £14,995 ($AU29,250).
The T03 and Spring may end up battling in Australia if the T03 is confirmed – with the Dacia brand also on the cards for local showrooms but sold under its parent-company Renault's branding.
The cheapest electric vehicle in Australia's new car showrooms is currently the MG 4 Excite 51, with discounts of up to $10,425 (model depending) to be as low as $30,990 drive-away.
An Australian parliamentary enquiry in August 2024 was told new Chinese electric cars will spark a price war in local new-car showrooms – something Chery Australia COO Lucas Harris subsequently told Driveis bad for Australians.
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