Meet the latest BYD Atto 3, Hyundai Kona EV, and Kia EV3 challenger: 2025 Leapmotor B10 revealed

Chinese-European automaker Leapmotor has revealed its next model, the B10 small SUV, which will follow in the footsteps of the C10 mid-sizer.

The B10 was revealed at the Paris Motor show and takes design cues from its larger sibling, looking simply like a miniature C10. The C10 will be the brand’s first model in Australia, arriving in November 2024.

Leapmotor’s parent company, Stellantis, which also owns Peugeot, Jeep, and Fiat, says the B10 will be the first in a range of ‘B-Series’ models for Leapmotor which will help spearhead its global expansion.

The B10 employs a new vehicle architecture, dubbed LEAP 3.5, which is said to involve customisable software, ‘advanced smart technologies’ and a high standard of active safety equipment. However, more details like its powertrains, battery sizes, and internal specs are yet to be revealed.

Chinese spy shots of the interior show a similar, if scaled down, interior to the C10, consisting of a two-spoke steering wheel, large floating central touchscreen, and a small digital instrument panel sitting atop the steering column.

While the vehicle was only just revealed and pricing is yet to be announced, Leapmotor’s founder Zhu Jiangming said the B10 was the brand’s “vision for an electric future — offering not only superior performance and smart connectivity, but also making that future accessible to consumers worldwide,” suggesting it would be targeting keen pricing when it does arrive.

2025 Leapmotor B10

Expect it to at very least undercut the C10, which is already expected to launch with a keen price for a mid-size SUV, possibly under $50,000 which would have it competing with some combustion rivals. The key for the B10 will be whether it can undercut, or at least provide better value, than the popular BYD Atto 3 (from $44,499, before on-road costs) when it arrives.

At the Paris show, Leapmotor said the B10 would expressly be targeting Europe when it launches in 2025 aiming for 500 sales points on the continent by the year's end. It leverages service locations which already exist in the Stellantis umbrella to provide after-sales support to its customers, despite being a brand-new entrant to the global car market.

Elsewhere, Leapmotor displayed two more models it intends to follow-up the B10 and C10 with, the C16 large SUV with an 800-volt architecture for long range and fast charging, and the ultra compact T03 city hatch which has already been revealed with a 265km WLTP driving range and what it claims is ‘best-in-class safety’ with six airbags and a comprehensive active safety offering.

2025 Leapmotor B10

Leapmotor forms an important part of the future hopes of its Stellantis parent company, which has suffered setbacks this year, particularly in the US as its CEO, Carlos Tavares, has focused much of his energy on revitalising its storied European brands.

Tavares has faced criticism from the brand’s US dealer network for raising the prices of its core models (like the Jeep Grand Cherokee) out of reach of its traditional buyers, and as a result it has been losing market share to rivals and stock has been piling up at dealers.

Meanwhile, Peugeot has gone from strength to strength, Alfa is finally getting a more mainstream small SUV model (the Junior), and Citroen (now axed from Australia) is undergoing a range-wide refresh. Fiat, however, is also in trouble, with the brand’s early bet on an EV-only 500 backfiring due to low demand, causing a pause in production at its historic Italian plant while production scrambles to shift to a hybrid version.

2025 Leapmotor B10

Locally, Jeep has taken a battering year-on-year (down nearly 50 per cent), Fiat is down neary 30 per cent, Peugeot is down 13 per cent, Alfa is floating even despite the introduction of the Tonale small SUV, while importer Inchcape made the decision to cull Citroen after 102 years in the market off the back of low sales (just 115 units to the end of September) and limited future product available.

This makes Leapmotor more important than ever in Australia for its corporate parent as it faces an unprecedented array of new players in the Australian market from China, like Geely, GAC, Xpeng, Skywell and Jaecoo.