The B05 globally unveiled in Germany this week has been confirmed for regional availability.

REGIONAL availability of a funky-looking electric hatchback with a hotshot flagship in the wings has been confirmed, though New Zealand market planning has yet to share.

The Leapmotor B05, a competitor for the MG 4 that won significant Kiwi appreciation in 2023 when electric car rebates applied, unveiled at the IAA mobility show in Munich this week.

The car has since been confirmed as a sales starter in Australia, with supply set to start in 2026.

Leapmotor is already entrenched in NZ, with the C10 sports utility it started out with last year, in fully electric and hybrid, about to be joined by a smaller lookalike, the B10.

The latter’s release was signalled in July and a first shipment for customer availability is thought to be close. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but the distributor - Armstrong Motor Group’s Autodistributors’ operation - has said it will rival the likes of BYD’s $49,990 and upward Atto 3 and Honda’s e:N1, which sells in a single trim for $52,000.

The B05 and B10 are tied in that they use a common platform, call the 3.5 architecture. It is the first underpinning the Stellantis-backed brand has developed specifically for global markets.

At 4430mm long, 1880mm wide, 1520mm tall, and with a 2735mm wheelbase, the B05 is 25mm more compact, 5mm wider and 135mm lower than the B10. The cars have the same 2735mm wheelbase.

Leapmotor has yet to share mechanical specifications but there’s in conjecture the mainstream version will have the B10’s drivetrains.

That raises prospect of a base model equipped with a 132kW motor and a 56.2kWh battery, and a higher spec car with a 160kW/240Nm motor, also driving the rear wheels, fed by a 67.1kWh battery, also to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry.

The B10 has a WLTP range rating of 418km and will knock down the 0-100kmh dash in 6.8s seconds. The B05 is expected to be quicker, and to go further on a charge.

However, what we get first will likely be joined by something more sizzling.

At the IAA, Leapmotor’s founder and chief executive Zhu Jiangming told a UK motoring publication he is planning to launch a hot-hatch variant, call the Ultra.

Conceivably, that would aim to compete with China’s sole choice in that format, the MG 4 X Power.

No images of the B05’s interior have been released, but potential is that it has the same 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster, and 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system as the B10.

Logically, then, it will also adopt the same suite of drive assistants.

Founded in 2015 in Hangzhou, a city about 170km south-west of Shanghai, Leapmotor sold its first cars four years later.

In 2023 Stellantis bought a 20 per cent stake, as well as a majority share of the company’s overseas distribution arm, and has overseen sales outside of China.

Leapmotor is expanding its retail network to support the arrival of the B10 and future models. It has two locations in Auckland and one each in Lower Hutt and Christchurch, with more to follow.