
Leapmotor posts first half-yearly profit, targets one million sales in 2026
The result is a marked turnaround from a ¥2.2 billion (A$4.7bn) loss over the same period last year, with an operating profit of 14.1 per cent being the highest since the company was formed in 2015.
It's only the second Chinese automotive start-up to post a half-yearly profit after Li Auto – which is not present in Australia – announced a ¥11.8 billion ($A2.55bn) profit in the first half of 2024 and continues to operate profitably.
Leapmotor sold more than 50,000 vehicles in a month for the first time in July 2025 and has increased its global sales target for 2025, from 290,000 to 500,000 sales, as it sets its sights on its first full-year profit.
CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Leapmotor. Click here to get a great deal. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
Above: Leapmotor C10
Leapmotor launched in Australia in late 2024 with its C10 mid-size SUV, which was initially released as an electric vehicle (EV) and then joined by an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) powertrain option dubbed as REEV.
To the end of July this year, Leapmotor has sold 352 examples of the C10, which is currently priced from $43,888 drive-away (C10 REEV) and $45,888 drive-away (C10 EV).
It's expected to confirm a second model for its local lineup, the B10 electric SUV, which could land here by the end of 2025.
In Europe, its most popular model is the Polish-made T03 electric city car – not confirmed for Australia – priced around £16,000 ($A33,450), making it one of the most affordable EVs on sale. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
Above: Leapmotor B10
Leapmotor is expected to reveal a small electric hatch called the B05 at the Munich motor show next month.
Dutch-based Stellantis has a majority stake in Leapmotor's international operations, its first China venture. Stellantis also owns brands including Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Jeep, Fiat, Peugeot and Chrysler.
The Leapmotor profit marks a reversal of fortunes for Stellantis, which posted a €2.3 billion ($A4.15bn) loss overall in the first half of 2025 after a €5.6 billion ($A10.1bn) profit in the first six months of 2024.
It delivered six per cent fewer vehicles in total, including 25 per cent fewer in the US, six per cent fewer in Europe, and six per cent fewer in the China/India/Asia Pacific region, which includes Australia.
Deliveries in South America improved by 20 per cent in H1, in one of Leapmotor's few positive results so far in 2025. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
Above: Leapmotor T03
Among its brands, Alfa Romeo also posted strong sales in the first half of 2025, up 20 per cent, but speculation persists – despite repeated denials from Stellantis – that Maserati is up for sale, following a 32 per cent H1 decline.
Stellantis' overall result was impacted by changes brought on by US import tariffs – both automotive-specific and broader tariffs on materials – which hit Maserati especially hard, given it's the brand's biggest market.
Amid the headwinds, Antonio Filosa took over the company as Stellantis CEO from June 2025, after Carlos Taveras stepped down in dramatic fashion last December.
MORE: Explore the Leapmotor showroom
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Perth Now
8 hours ago
- Perth Now
Pedestrian deaths are driving up the road toll
Australia's 15-year high road toll is largely attributable to a sharp increase in pedestrian deaths, says the Australian Automobile Association (AAA). According to new data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, a sharp increase in pedestrian deaths in the 12 months to July 31 pushed Australia's road deaths to their highest level for any corresponding period in 15 years. A total of 1340 people died on the nation's roads in the 12 months to July 31 – 2.9 per cent more than in the equivalent period a year earlier, and the worst result since 1395 deaths were recorded in the corresponding period in 2010. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. Supplied Credit: CarExpert The death toll included 205 pedestrians – up 44, or 27.3 per cent, from the previous corresponding period. Since 2021, when Australian governments adopted a National Road Safety Strategy target of halving road deaths by 2030, total road fatalities have increased by 22.2 per cent. In the same period, fatalities among pedestrians have increased by 48.6 per cent. Source: Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics statistics Supplied Credit: CarExpert On a state-by-state basis, the biggest increases in road deaths in the year to July 31 were in Tasmania (up 41.9 per cent), the ACT (up 12.7 per cent) and Western Australia (12.7 per cent), while road deaths declined in the Northern Territory (down 31.3 per cent) and South Australia (down 9.4 per cent). However, the Northern Territory recorded the nation's highest rate of road deaths per 100,000 residents, at 16.8, followed by Tasmania (7.6), Western Australia (6.8), Queensland (5.3), South Australia (4.6), Victoria (4.3), NSW (4.2), and the ACT (1.7). Meantime, men accounted for 993 road deaths in the 12 months to July 31 – down 1.6 per cent on the same period in 2024. But female road deaths increased to 346 – up 18.9 per cent. The increase in pedestrian deaths was driven by sharp rises in WA (31 deaths – up from 14 a year earlier) and Queensland, where there were 37 deaths – up from 23 a year earlier. Supplied Credit: CarExpert 'The National Road Safety Strategy is falling well short of its targets,' said Michael Bradley, the managing director of the AAA, which represents Australia's state-based motoring clubs and their 9.5 million members. Echoing the comments he made earlier this month, when Australia's road toll hit a 15-year high during the 12 months to June 30, Mr Bradley said the AAA is concerned by the lack of clarity regarding the factors driving the increase. 'Governments must look closely at their road trauma data to find out why, then take corrective action to save lives.' However, he noted that the nation's transport and infrastructure ministers agreed at a meeting in Melbourne last week that the WA government would work with the National Transport Commission to produce a draft national integrated regulatory framework on pedestrian safety relating to personal mobility devices. Coincidentally, Victoria's Transport Accident Commission also issued a press release today highlighting the fact speeding claimed 400 lives across the country and more than 4100 in the past decade, compared with an average of just six annual deaths from sharks, crocodiles or snakes between 2001 and 2021. Supplied Credit: CarExpert The TAC says it surveyed more than 1000 Australians and found that most perceive dangerous wildlife as a greater threat than speeding, which it claims is a factor in around one-third of road fatalities in both Victoria and nationally. When asked what they found to be 'extremely dangerous', 74.5 per cent of respondents said venomous snakes, followed by crocodiles (68.8 per cent) and sharks (61.8 per cent), but only 11.2 per cent felt that driving 5km/h over the speed limit was extremely dangerous, increasing to 29.8 per cent when considering driving 10km/h over the limit. To highlight this 'stark disconnect', the TAC has launched a new exhibit in central Melbourne 'to challenge common perceptions of danger, and prompt visitors to reflect on their own driving behaviour'. Situated on the plaza between Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Centre, the Australia's Deadliest Predator exhibit replicates a dangerous zoo animal enclosure and features a re-enactment of a car that has crashed after losing control due to speeding. Supplied Credit: CarExpert 'Australia's Deadliest Predator unapologetically calls out the social acceptance of speeding in a novel way, which we hope will encourage road users to slow down and stay within speed limits,' said TAC CEO Tracey Slatter. 'The data and research are clear – speed kills, and the only way we can prevent the tragic loss of life is to drive within the speed limit every time we use our roads. 'We will continue to use thought‐provoking initiatives such as Australia's Deadliest Predator to drive home the dangers of speeding until we realise a future where no one dies or is injured on our roads,' Ms Slatter said. So far this year 186 lives have been lost on Victorian roads – up from 180 in the same period last year. MORE: Australia's road toll hits 15-year high


7NEWS
11 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Mercedes-Benz spied testing an EV sedan that doesn't look like a spaceship
Mercedes-Benz's current electric passenger cars have failed to fire, particularly in markets like Australia where the German luxury brand is currently offering discounts of tens of thousands of dollars to shift remaining stock. So, for its next crack at an electric passenger car – expected to wear the C-Class with EQ Technology nameplate – Mercedes-Benz has changed tacks. Not only will it not wear one of the EQ-prefaced nameplates that Mercedes-Benz is moving away from, but the new electric C-Class wears much more conventional styling than the slippery EQE sedan and EQS limousine. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Mercedes-Benz. Click here to get a great deal. It's part of a move by Mercedes-Benz to offer a 'coherent design language' across its portfolio, which will see its electric vehicles (EVs) closely resemble their combustion-powered counterparts. It's a similar strategy to that employed by BMW, which will make its next electric 3 Series a global model that will take on this Benz head-on, and one which it has already previewed with the new CLA. Mercedes-Benz appears to have changed the look of its electric C-Class during the testing phase, as this prototype has a more conventional look than some of those spied earlier. The brand still isn't done yet, though, with placeholder lighting units used on this prototype. The electric C-Class will slot in above the new electric CLA with EQ Technology, and is likely to closely resemble a facelifted version of the current C-Class. That's despite the C-Class EV using the new dedicated electric vehicle (EV) architecture, as opposed to the MRA2 underpinnings of the current C-Class. That will see it share its platform with the new GLC with EQ Technology, which is set to be revealed in September. The upcoming mid-size electric SUV will offer a choice of single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains, and both lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. The LFP battery will offer a range of just over 500km on the WLTP cycle, while the NMC battery – with a capacity of 94.5kWH – will offer more than 800km. We can therefore expect the C-Class EV to boast an even longer range, given it'll likely be more aerodynamic. The standard 800V electrical architecture will also allow DC fast-charging rates of up to 320kW in the GLC, which means it can be topped up to provide 400km of range in as little as 15 minutes. Mercedes-Benz is also introducing a two-speed transmission.


Perth Now
12 hours ago
- Perth Now
Mercedes-Benz spied testing an EV sedan that doesn't look like a spaceship
Mercedes-Benz's current electric passenger cars have failed to fire, particularly in markets like Australia where the German luxury brand is currently offering discounts of tens of thousands of dollars to shift remaining stock. So, for its next crack at an electric passenger car – expected to wear the C-Class with EQ Technology nameplate – Mercedes-Benz has changed tacks. Not only will it not wear one of the EQ-prefaced nameplates that Mercedes-Benz is moving away from, but the new electric C-Class wears much more conventional styling than the slippery EQE sedan and EQS limousine. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Mercedes-Benz. Click here to get a great deal. Supplied Credit: CarExpert It's part of a move by Mercedes-Benz to offer a 'coherent design language' across its portfolio, which will see its electric vehicles (EVs) closely resemble their combustion-powered counterparts. It's a similar strategy to that employed by BMW, which will make its next electric 3 Series a global model that will take on this Benz head-on, and one which it has already previewed with the new CLA. Mercedes-Benz appears to have changed the look of its electric C-Class during the testing phase, as this prototype has a more conventional look than some of those spied earlier. The brand still isn't done yet, though, with placeholder lighting units used on this prototype. The electric C-Class will slot in above the new electric CLA with EQ Technology, and is likely to closely resemble a facelifted version of the current C-Class. Supplied Credit: CarExpert That's despite the C-Class EV using the new dedicated electric vehicle (EV) architecture, as opposed to the MRA2 underpinnings of the current C-Class. That will see it share its platform with the new GLC with EQ Technology, which is set to be revealed in September. The upcoming mid-size electric SUV will offer a choice of single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains, and both lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. The LFP battery will offer a range of just over 500km on the WLTP cycle, while the NMC battery – with a capacity of 94.5kWH – will offer more than 800km. We can therefore expect the C-Class EV to boast an even longer range, given it'll likely be more aerodynamic. The standard 800V electrical architecture will also allow DC fast-charging rates of up to 320kW in the GLC, which means it can be topped up to provide 400km of range in as little as 15 minutes. Mercedes-Benz is also introducing a two-speed transmission. MORE: Explore the Mercedes-Benz C-Class showroom