A buyer who might once have stretched toward a good used car can now drive away in something new for similar money. Full manufacturer warranty from day one, current safety systems, no service history to chase and no guesswork about a previous owner. That choice wasn’t really open to New Zealand buyers until recently.
Going Chinese does not mean going electric. Across the range there are conventional petrol SUVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, range-extenders and full EVs. If battery power is what you’re after, start with our electric vehicles. Anyone covering long distances without wanting to plan around charging has options, as does anyone who simply wants a well-specified petrol SUV at a fair price. The assumption that it’s EVs or nothing has probably kept more people away from these brands than anything else.
Many New Zealanders won’t know the Leapmotor name, which makes sense given how recently it moved into international markets. The organisation behind it isn’t small. Stellantis, owner of many well known car brands like Jeep and Peugeot, invested €1.5 billion in Leapmotor in 2023 and set up Leapmotor International to run global distribution. See the full range of Leapmotor electric and hybrid vehicles.
The flagship is the Leapmotor C10, a mid-size SUV that takes up about as much road as a RAV4. You can have it as an Ultra Hybrid from $49,990 + ORC & paint surcharge, or as a full EV with up to 510km of WLTP range from $54,990. For many Kiwi households the Ultra Hybrid is probably the one to look at. Its petrol engine never drives the wheels – it sits there generating electricity, and that’s all it does.
The Leapmotor B10 is a compact SUV. It starts from $44,990, or $39,990 for the range-extender Ultra Hybrid version, which uses the same setup as the C10 in a smaller car.
The Leapmotor B05 is the latest arrival to be coming to Armstrong’s and not an SUV at all. It’s a rear-wheel-drive electric hatchback with 50:50 weight balance. The Life grade has a 56.2kWh battery, up to 401km WLTP, and costs $43,990. Design steps up to 67.1kWh, up to 480km, and $47,990. For the extra money you get 19-inch alloys, a panoramic glass roof, heated and ventilated front seats, a 14.6-inch centre screen, 12 speakers and a 360-degree camera. DC charging peaks at 168kW, which works out to 30 to 80 percent in roughly 18 minutes.
The Leapmotor B03X is the smallest of the range and the newest, with first deliveries due in October. At 4.27 metres long it’s proper city size, a compact SUV with an upright shape and a raised stance, and New Zealand is one of the first right-hand-drive markets to get it. Two grades are offered. Life pairs a 39.8kWh battery with a 130kW motor for up to 292km of WLTP range and costs $37,990+ORC. Design moves up to a 53kWh battery and 145kW, stretches the range to 382km, and costs $42,990+ORC. Both are front-wheel drive and both reach 100km/h in 8.6 seconds. DC charging from 30 to 80 percent takes around 16 minutes on either battery. Design adds heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, an electric driver’s seat, a 360-degree camera, 18-inch alloys and a 12-speaker audio system.
All Leapmotor models carry a 6yr/150,000km vehicle warranty and an 8yr/160,000km battery warranty.
Dongfeng won’t be familiar to many buyers either, though that says more about how little coverage the Chinese industry receives here than about the company. It is one of China’s four largest vehicle manufacturers, has operated for more than 56 years, sells over 2.5 million vehicles annually across upward of 100 countries. Dongfeng launched here in late 2025, now with three Dongfeng electric vehicles in the range.
Start with the Dongfeng Box electric hatchback, because it’s the one people stop and look at. It’s a small hatchback built for the city, with frameless doors and handles that sit flush until you need them, and a roof that floats above the body in a second colour. WLTP range is 317km. Charging from 30 to 80 percent takes about half an hour. Drop the rear seats and there’s 945 litres of load space, which is a surprising amount for a car this size. Parking help comes from a camera setup Dongfeng calls 360-degree, meaning it shows what’s under the car as well as around it.
The Dongfeng Vigo electric SUV is the family option in the lineup. WLTP range is 340km, and the headline here is charging speed. Plug in, buy a coffee, drive off. The Vigo also holds a five-star NZTA Vehicle Safety Risk Rating.
Then there’s the Dongfeng 007 electric sedan, which has little in common with the other two. It’s a liftback sedan, and in AWD Performance form it makes 400kW and gets to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds. The body slips through the air with a drag coefficient of 0.209, an unusually low figure that shows up as better efficiency on the open road. The Long Range version manages 520km WLTP. Inside you get a 15.6-inch screen and 19 speakers. It’s a lot of car for the price.
Warranty is the same across all three: six years on the vehicle and eight on the battery, both capped at 200,000km, plus six years of roadside assistance.
smart is a name many people recognise, usually from the tiny two-seaters of the 2000s. The brand today is a different thing entirely. Mercedes-Benz and Geely run it as a joint venture. Geely is the Chinese group that also owns Volvo and Lotus. Mercedes-Benz’s Global Design team in Germany draws the cars, smart’s own engineers develop them, and production happens in China for 37 markets. Armstrong’s launched smart in New Zealand in April 2025 through its Mercedes-Benz dealerships in East Auckland and Christchurch. See the current range of smart electric cars.
The #1 is a five-seat compact SUV with up to 420km of WLTP range, from $64,990. The smart #3 is a coupe-SUV with up to 450km, from $69,990. Both come in Pro+, Premium and Brabus trims, and the #3 Brabus reaches 100km/h in 3.7 seconds.
The smart #5 is the newest and by some margin the largest. It carries a 100kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. Euro NCAP named it the Safest Large SUV of 2025, and What Car? gave it Family Electric SUV of the Year for 2026. Neither is a local award. Pro+ opens the range at $79,990 with up to 540km of WLTP range. Premium stretches that to 590km. The Brabus sits at the top at $99,990, with two motors, all-wheel drive, 475kW and a 3.8-second run to 100km/h. The car runs an 800-volt electrical system, so DC charging can reach 400kW where the charger allows it. Fold the rear seats and boot space grows to 1,350 litres. Every variant tows 1,600kg.
Beijing Automotive Group has built vehicles since 1958, with past joint ventures including Jeep, Daimler and Hyundai. That history separates it from the newer Chinese arrivals. BAIC launched in New Zealand in February 2026 through Armstrong’s with a conventional opening lineup: no EVs. The X55 and B30 are petrol and hybrid SUVs for buyers who want a capable, well-equipped vehicle without electrification. See the full range of BAIC SUVs.
The BAIC X55 compact SUV is the smaller one. Under the bonnet is a 1.5-litre turbo petrol making 138kW, paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. It starts at $37,990 and brings twin screens, wireless Apple CarPlay and the full active safety package at that price. The X55 also comes in Hybrid form, from $42,990. Its petrol engine mostly generates electricity while a 160kW electric motor does the driving, and BAIC quotes fuel use from 5.8L/100km.
The BAIC B30 hybrid SUV is bigger and more upright, and it looks the part. BAIC has built off-roaders for a long time and the B30 wears that history. The Premium Adventure HEV AWD is the one with the numbers: 301kW and 685Nm combined from a 1.5-litre engine and two electric motors.
All BAIC vehicles carry a seven-year unlimited-kilometre warranty with seven years of roadside assistance.
Arcfox is BAIC’s premium electric division, established in 2017. It sits above the mainstream BAIC lineup and well below the price of a comparable European premium EV. Arcfox arrived in New Zealand in mid-2026 with the Arcfox T1 crossover at launch price of $34,990. It sits between a passenger car and a compact SUV, with raised ride height, more than 300km of WLTP range and a specification well above what that price typically buys. Full active safety is standard and the T1 carries a six-year, 200,000km warranty. See the full range of Arcfox electric vehicles.
Are Chinese cars well built?
The gap to Japanese, Korean and European brands has closed a lot in ten years, and on some models it isn’t there at all. Most of the manufacturers selling here had to pass European homologation and crash testing before they could sell in Europe, and the ANCAP and Euro NCAP results are public. Reviewers who have spent time in the cars generally have good things to say about panel gaps, materials and how the interiors are put together.
Are Chinese cars reliable?
Manufacturers don’t generally offer six, seven or eight-year warranties on vehicles they expect to fail, and the length of cover reflects that. Several brands also have formal engineering ties to established global manufacturers. Across the brands Armstrong’s carries, buyers can expect six to seven-year vehicle warranties, battery cover up to eight years, and in some cases unlimited kilometres.
Are Chinese cars good value?
The pattern that holds is this: you get more equipment for the money than you would from a comparable car, and some models sit close enough to used-car prices that buying new stops being a stretch. Big screens, driver assistance and fast charging come with the car rather than sitting on an options list. How you drive and where you can charge still matter, so think that part through first.
Hybrid or range-extender: what’s the difference?
In a hybrid, the petrol engine and the electric motor both turn the wheels, and the car switches between them or uses both at once. A range-extender is set up differently. The petrol engine isn’t connected to the wheels at all. Its only job is to run a generator that tops up the battery when it gets low. The electric motor does all the driving, all the time. Day to day it feels like an EV, quiet and smooth, and the engine only comes into it on long trips where charging isn’t convenient. The Leapmotor C10 Ultra Hybrid works this way, and that’s a big part of why it has sold well here.
