Leapmotor already outpacing Stellantis stablemates in Australia

Chinese EV brand Leapmotor has emerged as the top-performing Stellantis brand in Australia, outselling long-established marques for a second consecutive year amid a broader slump for the group locally.

Having launched in Australia in 2024, Leapmotor has quickly surged past Stellantis icons that have been entrenched in the market for decades, including Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot and Fiat.

Year-to-date figures show the Chinese newcomer leading the group with 170 sales so far in 2026, compared to 55 for Jeep, and just 26 each for Alfa Romeo and Fiat.

While the result marks a notable internal shift, it also highlights the broader struggles facing Stellantis in Australia, where once-strong brands have seen volumes decline sharply.

Leapmotor’s early momentum appears to be driven by growing demand for electric vehicles, as Australian buyers increasingly move away from traditional internal combustion offerings amid soaring fuel prices.

“There is the novelty, there is the appetite for electric – even in Australia,” Leapmotor strategy, product and marketing boss Francesco Giacalone said.

That appetite has yet to translate across the wider Stellantis portfolio, even among brands with EV offerings.

Both Jeep and Fiat now offer electric models in Australia, including the Jeep Avenger and Fiat 500e, yet neither has managed to generate meaningful sales traction.

The Avenger in particular has struggled despite heavy discounting – recently slashed in price by up to $16,000 – with only three sales recorded so far this year. 

The downturn comes amid broader uncertainty surrounding Jeep’s local future following sustained sales declines and a shrinking retail network.

Despite its rapid rise within the group, Leapmotor remains a relatively small player in the wider market.

Rival Chinese brands continue to dominate, with companies like Geely already surpassing 1200 sales this year.

Despite that gap, Leapmotor says its focus isn’t on climbing the internal Stellantis ladder, but on competing directly with those external rivals, confident its growth trajectory will close the distance.

“In the family, we will be happy when we will be second or third, but still, we will be ahead of China’s players,” Giacalone said.

With ambitions to reach 2.5 million global sales by 2030 – around 40 per cent of which are expected to come from export markets – Australia is set to play an increasingly important role in Leapmotor’s international expansion.

But while the brand has quickly established itself within the Stellantis portfolio, the next challenge will be translating that internal momentum into meaningful scale against fast-growing Chinese rivals in the broader market.

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