1. Meet Australia's new cheapest electric SUV: the Leapmotor B03X
The BYD Atto 2 just lost its crown. Leapmotor has priced the B03X from $26,990 before on-road costs, undercutting the Atto 2 Dynamic by five grand, with showroom arrivals from November 2026. There's also a drive-away deal: $29,990 for the base Style in standard paint if you buy and take delivery between 1 October and 31 December 2026. The Style packs a 39.8kWh battery good for 292km of WLTP range and a 130kW front motor, while the $30,990-plus-on-roads Design Long Range stretches to 382km and adds 3.3kW vehicle-to-load on both grades — handy for camping gear or a fridge at the tailgate. At 4,270mm long it's a proper small SUV, and the 1,315L you get with the rear seats folded is clever packaging for the money.
Source: CarExpert
2. Honda's Super-One baby EV lands in Aussie showrooms this month
Honda's first EV for Australia is here — and it's tiny, retro, and undercuts the Hyundai Inster. The Super-One starts at $36,900 drive-away, with two grades announced. Inspired by the 1980s Honda City, it runs a 47kW front motor (70kW in Boost mode) on a dedicated electric platform, and Honda has already banked over 6,500 expressions of interest — more than it got for the Civic Type R. Catch: only 130 cars are allocated for Australia in 2026, with bigger supply from 2027, so if you want one of the first you'll need to move. Honda also promises servicing capped at $199 per scheduled visit for the first five years.
Source: CarExpert
3. Paris motor show: a tiny Smart, an 880kW Denza, and an Avatr bound for Oz
Plenty of new EVs came out of the 2026 Paris motor show. Smart revealed the #2, a two-seat two-door EV roughly 1,200mm shorter than a BYD Atto 1, with 330km of WLTP range and 10–80% fast charging in 20 minutes. At the other end, BYD's Denza brand unveiled the Z electric sports car — three motors, 880kW, and a claimed 0–100km/h in under two seconds, aimed squarely at the Ferrari and Lamborghini crowd. And here's one for us: ultra-luxury Chinese brand Avatr showed its T09 plug-in hybrid SUV concept, with an Australian launch pencilled in for 2028 or 2029. Citroen also teased an electric 2CV successor due in 2028, though that one's unlikely to come Down Under.
Source: CarsGuide
4. EU and China agree to cap Chinese hybrid imports at 350,000 a year
This one's trade policy, but it matters for car prices everywhere. Brussels and Beijing have reportedly reached an understanding to limit Chinese-built hybrid and plug-in hybrid imports into the EU to 350,000 vehicles a year, most likely from early December 2026, with the cap rising 6% annually over four years. EU imports of Chinese hybrids jumped from 107,000 in 2024 to a projected 302,000 in 2025, so the cap is roughly a freeze at current levels rather than a cut. How the quota gets administered is still unclear — and worth watching, because when Europe squeezes the flow of Chinese hybrids, that stock has to go somewhere. Often, somewhere is us.
Source: Industrial News
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