‘Power in numbers’: Chinese car brands are reshaping Australia’s new-car market
A senior executive from Chinese car brands Omoda Jaecoo says the recent influx of newcomer brands is making it easier to cut through and get on new car buyer shortlists in an increasingly competitive market.
The sub-brands of Chinese giant Chery – one of the biggest and most ambitious of the Chinese brands in Australia – says more than a dozen relatively new brands have shaken up the new car market to the point where consumers are increasingly open to looking beyond the legacy brands they once gravitated to.
“One advantage of having so many brands come in is that people are more open to exploring new choices,” said Roy Munoz, chief commercial officer for Omoda Jaecoo.
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“It’s a lot harder if you’re one of the first new brands in a sea of legacy, existing brands built on generations of reputation.”
Munoz says in some ways the plethora of Chinese brands – from BYD, Foton, Zeekr and GAC to XPeng, GWM, Chery and Denza – has opened consumers’ eyes to fresh logos and, increasingly, sharper value.
He says people are more open to looking beyond the traditional players.
“People are more receptive (to new brands). When there were one or two Chinese brands in the market it was a much bigger hurdle for them (buyers) to get over,” he said, adding “It’s power in numbers” and that consumers increasingly think “well, there’s a lot of them here now, let’s just look at all of them”.
Of course, pricing helps.
Chinese brands have quickly earnt a reputation for undercutting the traditional brands, often by upwards of $10,000.
And improvements to safety, design and quality have all made them more appealing on the new car market.
Newcomer Chinese brands such as Chery, GWM and BYD have surged into strong positions in the Australian market, helping fuel structural shifts in consumer preferences away from established legacy makers.
Unsurprisingly the growth in sales of Chinese brands is coming at the expense of many familiar names, including Nissan, Mitsubishi and Honda.
Volkswagen sales have plummeted in Australia in recent years to the point where it is now struggling to sell half as many cars as it did a decade or so ago.
Despite having a broad model range Volkswagen is these days regularly outsold by Tesla, which has just two models.
And newcomer Chinese brands such as Chery, GWM and BYD have surged past the once-strong German car maker.
Munoz was speaking at the launch of the new Jaecoo J5 compact electric SUV. Watch out for pricing details and our drive review next week.
