Leapmotor is weighing a pick-up, and says the case for one rests on Australia and Brazil rather than Europe, according to remarks by Francesco Giacalone, Leapmotor International’s Head of Product and Marketing.
The tease was made at the global launch of the B03X compact SUV in Spain this week.
The SUV, named A10 in China, was the second-best-selling model in China last month, with 30,652 retail sales, according to CPCA data, ahead of the Tesla Model Y and behind only the Geely EX2.
“I mean, I don’t want to say too many things, but this morning we had a very, very interesting conversation about Australia and what we as Leapmotor can do to create products that fit that market and for which maybe another market there is no demand, and you can guess what type of products they are,” Giacalone said.
Asked by CarsGuide whether he meant a pick-up, he replied: “I never say so.”
He then described the demand he had in mind. “The regionalisation of our strategy implies that there are demands that, in this moment, are not European centric. Europe is not a pick-up market. Brazil is. Australia maybe,” he said.
Australia on its own “represents, from a volume point of view, not as such strong arguments to build a standalone car for one market,” but “within the Leapmotor strategy to go global and be present global, in South America and Brazil is 30% of the market in terms of registration. So there could be interest to develop that things.”
He did not say 30% of which market, and the figure is his. He added that “there are a lot of ideas,” including “ideas about vans” and “even bigger, large SUVs.”
The ute question has followed the brand for 18 months.
Giacalone told Australian media early in 2025 that headquarters had asked him to assess global demand for pick-ups and light commercials, and Leapmotor International Chief Executive Tianshu Xin said last December that nothing was planned but a ute could be developed, most likely electric, noting that Stellantis already builds the Ram.
Not an Off-Road Brand
Asked whether Leapmotor would develop a ladder-frame off-road SUV to compete with Geely’s forthcoming Battleship 700, Giacalone said it would not fit the brand.
“If it will be in the Leapmotor DNA. Leapmotor will not be the right… is not the right off-road brand. It is not that one. But from a visual design point of view, that direction is being considered.”
The Segment It Would Enter
Australia’s utes are its best-selling vehicles and its most contested segment, and the 4×4 pick-up category is shrinking: sales are down 13.6% year to date through August, with last year’s leader, the Ford Ranger 4×4, down 12% and the Toyota HiLux 4×4 down 6.4%, figures CarsGuide derived from VFACTS.
The Chinese entrants of the past two years, the JAC T9, MG U9, its LDV Terron 9 twin and the Foton Tunland, have all sold modestly.
The exception is BYD’s Shark 6, a plug-in hybrid with a turbocharged petrol engine, two motors and a Blade battery, launched in late 2024 with deliveries from early 2025, which became a volume seller.
More is coming before any Leapmotor could: Chery’s diesel plug-in Stockman in the coming months, and a plug-in ute Geely is developing, according to CarsGuide.
Where Leapmotor Stands in Australia
The remarks come in a market where Leapmotor is still small.
The brand sold 112 vehicles in Australia in August, up 286% on a year earlier and its best month, against BYD’s 8,231, GWM’s 4,870, MG’s 4,767 and Chery’s 4,238, per VFACTS.
It has sold about 1,730 cars since deliveries began in December 2024, on compiled figures, and outsold Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Fiat within Stellantis Australia in 2025 and again this year, per carsales.
Its range is the C10 mid-size SUV, the B10 small SUV and, since late August, the B05 hatchback, all in battery-electric and, for the SUVs, range-extender form, with the B03X, the export version of the A10 that was China’s best-selling SUV in August and second among all cars, in Australian certification documents.
At the same launch Giacalone told CarExpert that with 150,000 international sales to analyse, Leapmotor could say that “nine customers out of 10 would not have purchased any [Stellantis] brand if we were not there,” that its buyers are eight to nine years younger than established brands’, and that it is “not a budget brand” but “a value for money brand.”
Leapmotor’s overseas sales were 47,500 in 2025 and 105,000 in the first eight months of 2026, on its own figures, and on its August 24 results call management said overseas sales could reach about 200,000 this year, above an earlier target of 100,000 to 150,000.
