While most young Chinese EV startups take subtle delight in mocking legacy automakers, Jinhua-based Leapmotor discovered a quiet truth: having a legacy automotive giant in your corner is actually a massive flex.
Founded barely a decade ago, Leapmotor saw Stellantis acquire a 20% stake in 2023, creating the 51/49 Stellantis-led joint venture Leapmotor International to push its vehicles onto the global stage. Yet, in Australia, the Stellantis badge itself carries surprisingly little star power, particularly after Jeep’s slow-motion shipwreck left group brands languishing in niche territory.
Leapmotor Australia chief Andy Hoang openly admits that front-of-house group awareness remains limited down under compared to Europe’s established dealer network. The real superpower here is invisible to showroom visitors drooling over sleek touchscreens: invisible back-end infrastructure.
Instead of scrambling to figure out customer management, technician training, diagnostic equipment, or workshop tools on the fly, Leapmotor inherited a fully functional operational ecosystem before rolling a single car off the ship.
The strategy kicked off in 2024 with the C10 midsize SUV, followed by the compact B10, with the B05 sedan and the tiny B03X joining the lineup, all available as pure electric or range-extender models. By late September, deliveries reached 1,168 units, marking a staggering 158.4% jump. That performance effortlessly outperformed local Stellantis stablemates, trailing only RAM (2,322 units, down 8%) and Fiat (1,422 units, up 0.8% as it transitions strictly to commercial vehicles).
Hoang isn’t playing around with post-sales support either. Roughly half of Leapmotor’s 25 sales and service locations share space with existing Stellantis dealerships. Over in Melbourne, a dedicated warehouse built 12 to 18 months ago stockpiled $6 million in spare parts before a single customer signed a contract, aiming for a 90% 24-hour fulfillment rate. Other components are sourced from Malaysia, while urgent items take flight straight from China. With plans to expand to 35-40 locations, Leapmotor is proving that while flashy tech sells cars, actual spare parts keep the lights on.