Deepal News

2025 was certainly the year of the new car brand coming to Australia.

Feel like there’s suddenly a whole lot of new car brands with logos you don’t even recognise.

Changan, the parent brand for Deepal, has confirmed it will launch a new small electric SUV in the UK, following its recent Chinese market debut.

The saviour of electric cars may have come crashing down to earth before it’s even risen.

Deepal's over-the-air update to the S07's safety systems, which allows certain functions to be permanently disabled rather than require them to be turned off every time the vehicle is started, risks falling foul of ANCAP, with the safety body demanding answers ahead of a potential revaluation of the model's safety rating.

How Deepal's werid 'Multitruck' is already stealing sales from Tesla's Cybertruck.

China’s Deepal hasn’t launched the S05 small SUV in Australia yet but a new super long-range electric version is reportedly set to be revealed in China tomorrow.

China sells nearly double the entire yearly Australian new car market in just one month

China’s latest ‘ute’ cleared for sale in Australia. Newcomer Deepal is entering the great Aussie ute wars, but its entrant is unlike anything on the road.

Yet another premium Chinese brand could be headed to Australia, as the Avatr 11 launches in right-hand drive guise at the Hong Kong motor show.Avatr is the premium electric vehicle arm of Changan which also includes Deepal in its corporate umbrella. The new brand claims to “blend Chinese innovation and European design”.Deepal also made its debut in Hong Kong at the show, but it is already imported to Australia in right-hand drive via the same importer as Subaru and Peugeot, Inchcape.It is not the first time Avatr models have launched in right-hand drive. The is brand already in Thailand where Changan is establishing a manufacturing presence to be a larger domestic player alongside fellow Chinese carmaker, GWM.Like its Deepal cousins, the Avatr 11 is an unusual crossover-style shape, which has an unconventional rear boot aperture and rear deck feature. While it has the ride height of an SUV, its body style is closer to that of a four-door GT car.Electric versions come in rear-wheel drive powered by a 230kW/370Nm motor or an all-wheel drive producing 402kW/687Nm which. They're offered with two battery capacities on an 800-volt architecture, either a 90.38kWh Standard Range with 575km driving range (on the more lenient NEDC measure), or a 116.79kWh Long Range offering 680km of driving range on a single charge.Its 0-100km/h time is 6.6 seconds for the Standard Range, or 6.9 seconds for the long range.Interestingly, there is also now a range-extender hybrid version, which pairs a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine (115kW) with the base RWD motor.It is equipped with a 39.05kWh battery pack good for up to 225km of EV range (according to Chinese specifications). So far only the fully electric version in rear-wheel drive has been sold in right-hand drive format in Thailand. The all-wheel drive and range-extender variants are still left-hand drive, primarily for the Chinese market.The interior features luxurious trims and a tri-screen layout, consisting of a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a massive 15.6-inch central multimedia touchscreen, and a second 10.25-inch screen for the passenger.The Avatr 11 is not cheap in Thailand, with the base rear-drive version starting from the equivalent of A$100,000, however left-hand-drive Chinese versions start from the equivalent of A$62,500.If it were to land in Australia, you could expect the brand to split the difference, landing at least 15 to 20 per cent more than the Chinese version, but below the Thai version. Other models in the brand’s range yet to be seen in right-hand-drive form include the Avatr 06 sports sedan, Avatr 07 mid-size SUV, and Avatr 12 Grand Tourer.Currently the only Deepal model sold in Australia is the S07 crossover SUV in a single variant, equipped with a 160kW rear-mounted electric motor and 475km of driving range. It costs $53,900, but despite a keen price-tag is struggling to make an impact on the increasingly competitive affordable electric SUV space.The brand has managed to register just 67 units so far this year, well behind its closest rivals, the Geely EX5 (1023 units) and Leapmotor C10 (249 units), although the brand has plans to rapidly follow-up with the S05 small SUV, E07 ute/SUV hybrid, and potentially the range-extender hybrid and off-road-focused G318.The company and its importer have yet to comment on the idea of Avatr launching in Australia, but globally executives have made no secret of its plans to expand, starting with Asia Pacific.