Leapmotor's electric hot hatch firming for Australia after New Zealand confirmation

Leapmotor Australia still has yet to announce local launch timing for a sporty Ultra version of its new B05 small electric hatchback, despite the hot hatch being confirmed for a New Zealand launch.

The Chinese brand's distributor across the ditch, Auto Distributors New Zealand, confirmed to CarExpert New Zealand in August that it'll arrive there during the second half of 2027.

Leapmotor hasn't confirmed how the export-market B05 Ultra will differ from the Chinese-market Lafa 5 Ultra it'll be based on, with specifications yet to be announced for the New Zealand market.

Andy Hoang, the boss of Leapmotor Australia, confirmed he's in discussions with Leapmotor to introduce the model here.

"We definitely would like to have it here," Mr Hoang told CarExpert.

"When we first saw it in China at the show, I think the unanimous opinion of us and all of our dealers who were there was that this is a fantastic product that would work in Australia.

"We're probably not at the point where we can confirm it for Australia in terms of timing, but we're definitely in conversations to see how and when we could get it here."

Mr Hoang said it will further burnish the B05's appeal, arguing: "The B05 in its current form is already for us a halo product because it's different.

"The customers that are buying the car are those that want to make an entrance. They don't want to be seen as 'I'm just driving another EV, I want to drive something different'. I think the Ultra will supersize that.

"It might be even more niche than an EV hatch, but the halo effect of it on the brand is going to be quite significant."

While Leapmotor offers sedans, a people mover and a microcar in markets overseas, in Australia the B05 is its only non-SUV model.

The export-market B05 Ultra is set to differ from the Chinese-market Lafa 5 Ultra, with Leapmotor Europe product marketing manager Alexis Cieslewicz telling CarExpert in June that the global version of the Ultra will receive some “further development”.

"The Chinese version maybe is not perfect for European market. It needs some fine-tuning and needs some further development, so we need to have more time for evaluation of bringing this car in Europe," said Mr Cieslewicz.

Leapmotor International's head of commercial operations for Europe, Danilo Annese, was more direct regarding the car needing to meet European and Australian consumer demands.

“So it’s [coming] 2027 but not at the beginning, let’s say, because the more you raise the bar on performance on any customer, not just European ones, but also the Australian ones, it's demanding. This is why the Chinese Ultra does not play the game. So either we play in a certain way, we try, or we don’t,” he said.

“When I look to the power [output], it could be more.

“The Chinese car, that’s mainly a body kit, and we want to do it a little bit better than that."

The Lafa 5 Ultra features a single-motor rear-wheel drive electric powertrain like the B05 that just arrived in Australia, but its power and torque figures have been raised from 160kW and 240Nm to 180kW and 255Nm.

It's offered with the same 56.2kWh and 67.1kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries as the Australian-market B05, with Leapmotor claiming 0-100km/h times of 5.9 seconds with the smaller of the two packs and 6.2 seconds with the latter.

In contrast, the Australian-market B05 does the 0-100km/h dash in a claimed 7.5 seconds with the smaller pack and, unusually, is quicker at 6.7 seconds with the larger battery despite there being no difference in power and torque outputs.

Despite the extra power, the B05 Ultra falls well short of the MG 4 EV XPower, which features a dual-motor all-wheel drive electric powertrain producing 320kW/600Nm and rocketing the small hatch to 100km/h from standstill in a claimed 3.8 seconds.

Leapmotor's quickest model in Australia is the limited-run C10 AWD Sports+ Special Edition, a mid-size electric SUV with 440kW of power and 760Nm of torque, and a claimed 0-100km/h time of just 4.0 seconds.

Apart from more power, the B05 Ultra comes with a more aggressive bodykit, including side skirts, a rear diffuser, and rear spoiler. It also features 19-inch alloy wheels with a gunmetal grey finish, wrapped in Hankook iON EVO tyres to match the exterior badging, and sits 10mm lower than the regular B05.

Leapmotor touts European chassis tuning and 50:50 weight distribution for the Ultra, as it does with the regular B05/Lafa 5.

Inside, it gets bucket seats up front, faux suede upholstery with leather appointments, and a faux suede headliner.

In addition to the B05 Ultra, Leapmotor Australia is evaluating both a smaller hatchback and larger SUVs.

“We are looking at a range of other products. B03 is one of them. B05 Ultra is one of them. C16. D19,” said Mr Hoang.

“These are all vehicles that Leapmotor has announced globally that these are products that we have in our stable, and these are the products we will be looking at for international markets, and it’s just a matter of us working through what is the best timing for us to get some of those products, and which ones that we think have an opportunity to help us here, grow our footprint, and customers demand.”

MORE: Explore the Leapmotor B05 showroom