China to Sell 100,000 cars Annually In Australia Within Five Years

[jpd80]

Chinese cars will make massive inroads into Australia in the next few years, as they replace Korean makers in the bargain basement end of the market.

The man in charge of the first Chinese-branded vehicles to be sold in Australia, Ric Hull, says it will take the Chinese less than half the time it took the Koreans to reach the milestone of 100,000 sales in one year.

Hull ought to know. He introduced Hyundai into Australia nationally as an independent distributor in 1988, after another distributor, John Hughes, began importing Hyundais in West Australia in 1986.

It took Korean brands 12 years to reach 100,000 sales in one year and they are now among the top three sellers of cars in Australia.

According to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries figures, so far this year 90,000 vehicles have come from Japan (up 13 per cent), 42,000 have come from Korea (up 68 per cent), 38,000 have come from Thailand (up eight per cent), while Australian-made cars accounted for 35,000 sales.

Chinese-made cars accounted for a fraction of the total new vehicle sales in Australia (1400) in the first three months of this year, but at least six new Chinese-made vehicles are due in showrooms by the end of this year.

"I don't want to put an exact figure on it but I'd be disappointed if Chinese brands don't make it to 100,000 in five years," he told the Carsales Network.

"The Australian new-car market is much bigger now than it was when the Koreans started in 1986, so it shouldn't be too much trouble (to reach 100,000) at all."
Full story here...

I'm glad that Ford is not playing in this end of the market, price based competitors like Kia and Hyundai (maybe Toyota) will fall prey to the passable Chinese vehicles about to hit our shores.

As long as buyers view the Great Wall V240 as "just a Jackaroo with a different face",
Great Wall stand to cut a swathe through Korean and Japanese profits as people.......

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I'm glad that Ford is not playing in this end of the market, price based competitors like Kia and Hyundai (maybe Toyota) will fall prey to the passable Chinese vehicles about to hit our shores.

As long as buyers view the Great Wall V240 as "just a Jackaroo with a different face",
Great Wall stand to cut a swathe through Korean and Japanese profits as people.......

I thought the Great Wall cars all had horrible crash test ratings? Maybe the government should make a minimum ANCAP rating for all new cars being imported into the country.....lets say.....4...?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by SteveJH

I thought the Great Wall cars all had horrible crash test ratings? Maybe the government should make a minimum ANCAP rating for all new cars being imported into the country.....lets say.....4...?

Great Wall cars will get a 4 Star ANCAP rating, there's a big stink about it
because they achieved it without Stability Control...

[SB076]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Great Wall cars will get a 4 Star ANCAP rating, there's a big stink about it
because they achieved it without Stability Control...

Isnt stability control mandatory on all new private vehicles later this year?

I havent seen the crash test results (for the cars - so dont know what they will acheive) The utes only achieved two stars (but I still see a few on the road)

Some will buy some will not - they will make it difficult for the budget brands as you suggested. However I remember reading an article stating that the Chinese would not sell cars on cost alone..... They were leaving that to Indian manufacturers who were supposed to be bring out new cars at less than $10,000

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by SB076

Isnt stability control mandatory on all new private vehicles later this year?

I havent seen the crash test results (for the cars - so dont know what they will acheive) The utes only achieved two stars (but I still see a few on the road)

Some will buy some will not - they will make it difficult for the budget brands as you suggested. However I remember reading an article stating that the Chinese would not sell cars on cost alone..... They were leaving that to Indian manufacturers who were supposed to be bring out new cars at less than $10,000

Only when seeking 5 Star rating.

I'm not trying to convert or sing their praises, I just see the Chinese
car makers being more successful and a bigger threat to the Koreans.

Look at all the Schmos out there who currently buy bottom end entry level vehicles
and don't really obsess over car makers, all they see is a check list in their head,
if it's comfortable and affordable, most families will give it a shot.

I wouldn't worry if their car were true rubbish but if they happen to be
half decent then the Koreans are in for a real rough time in the market...

[Dodge]

only seen 2 great wall utes and 1 suv so it looks like a very long time to hit 100,000

[Iggypoppin']

Wouldn't own a great wall if you gave it to me...buy Australian made, keep jobs in Australia, healthy economy!

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Dodge

only seen 2 great wall utes and 1 suv so it looks like a very long time to hit 100,000

Story is they are gonna flood here like diahorrea...
Seen it all before with Hyundai, they used redundant Mitsubishi designs for quite a while.

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

Wouldn't own a great wall if you gave it to me...buy Australian made, keep jobs in Australia, healthy economy!

Yes, that may be so but plenty of Australians will buy Chinese because they don't care
and now that buyers are comfortable with Hyundai/Kia, Chinese is a much easier sell....

[Iggypoppin']

The faithful few will cling to loyalty I hope..I know I will..even though I can't buy new, my hearts in the right place.

[jpd80]

Ford and Holden buyers will probably stay pretty true but
I can see the low cost brands being savaged ...brutally.

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Ford and Holden buyers will probably stay pretty true but
I can see the low cost brands being savaged ...brutally.

You mean Commodore, Falcon and Camry buyers. Those are the only Aussie made cars. Everything else is imported, Ford, Holden or otherwise.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

You mean Commodore, Falcon and Camry buyers. Those are the only Aussie made cars. Everything else is imported, Ford, Holden or otherwise.

I'm non-committal on Toyota as they have other Asian plants that could build
Camry and Aurion, they could pull out at a moment's notice if it suited them

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I'm non-committal on Toyota as they have other Asian plants that could build
Camry and Aurion, they could pull out at a moment's notice if it suited them

GM & Ford have lots of plants around the world too. From Detroit's point of view, Australian plants must be difficult to justify, especially GM who are bankrupt and owe the US taxpayers quite a bit.

Toyota Canrys are still Australian made, and Toyota make far more units both for local consumption and export than Holden do, way more units than Ford do. If you want to support local jobs, Toyota is the biggest contributor to the local economy, it's just a pity the Camry is a butt ugly refrigerator.

I know that this sometimes turns into an "Aussie company" vs the world thing, but it needs to be remembered that there are no Aussie car companies - they are all 100% owned by overseas. I don't give a crap whether it's owned by the USA, China, Japan or India. What's important is that they manufacture here, and that's the best we can hope for.

[smally289]

These cheap cars from China and India are disposable junk. Let's see how the resale is when they get to 5 or 6 years old when things start to go wrong. No one will want to shell out the dollars to fix (or try to fix) faults that are caused by second rate engineering and cheap components. False economy really.
They will become the Ssangyong of the 21st century.

[jpd80]

On the contrary,
They will become the Hyundai and Kia of the 21st century.

[Bossxr8]

100,000 cars is about 10% of the whole market, do they seriously believe that will be possible in 5 years?

[smally289]

Originally Posted by jpd80

On the contrary,
They will become the Hyundai and Kia of the 21st century.

Hyundai and Kia have both come a long way, but its taken a long time. I seriously doubt that the junk from China will ever get to their current standards.

[pommyjames]

these 'cheap' vehicles are definately of inferior build quality, just watch them drop to bits in a few years time.

[SVD]

ya know i don't get it, I'm currently dating a chinese girl....and she has told me that no one in china was stupid enough to buy a Great Wall vehicle and they preferred to by non chinese cars!
So if the Chinese get that the cars are ********, why don't we?

[pommyjames]

basically says it all really, they are cheap and people will buy them but im sure there will be issues with them. Mind you they are offering good warranties on them which says they must have some confidence in the build quality etc

[Iggypoppin']

I have not seen one great wall at my work. 90% fords and Toyota 4wd's, few holdens, some land rovers, etc, but no horrid Chinese buckets. The tradesman don't trust them. And they'd rather drive VB wagons than great walls.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

I have not seen one great wall at my work. 90% fords and Toyota 4wd's, few holdens, some land rovers, etc, but no horrid Chinese buckets. The tradesman don't trust them. And they'd rather drive VB wagons than great walls.

I don't know about SA but i see them all the time in QLD, plenty of tradies buying them, neighbour has two and he says the service/warranty offered beats any other vehical in the same class hands down, and that coupled with the low purchase price is why he is buying another one....

I said this in the Great Wall thread, the majority of people don't give a dam about crash test figures, all they see is the dollar figure, and that is why these sorts of cars will always find buyers....

[pommyjames]

time will tell whether they will be reliable etc. If I was a tradesman I definetely wouldnt buy one.

[pommyjames]

Hyundai's aren't too far off some of the jap vehicles, i agree that the chinese stuff have a long way to go

[jpd80]

Japan took several decades to reach acceptance levels of the buying public,
Korea took half the time so, why wouldn't China take even less time.....

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Japan took several decades to reach acceptance levels of the buying public,
Korea took half the time so, why wouldn't China take even less time.....

Unfortunately these days with cheap TV's, phone, computers, etc. People have the BATA (Buy And Throw Away) mentality. So why not buy the cheapest car you can get and buy a new one in 3 years.....it works in China with their heavy machinery.

[Wretched]

I'm seeing these Great Wall utes around a lot lately.
They are also putting them into shopping centres so everyone can see.
They're cheap and are able to do what most people want out of such a vehicle.

I wouldn't be so quick to discount them.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by Wretched

I'm seeing these Great Wall utes around a lot lately.
They are also putting them into shopping centres so everyone can see.
They're cheap and are able to do what most people want out of such a vehicle.

I wouldn't be so quick to discount them.

Agree 100%....

[pottery beige]

Where i work we dig up dirt and send it to China.. If China does good.. I do good........

[smally289]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

Where i work we dig up dirt and send it to China.. If China does good.. I do good........

The stuff I pull out of the ground at work goes to Japan, so there's my excuse to not buy a Great Wall vehicle.