Why 2025 is the year of the Chinese car in Australia
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Chinese brands have been standing in the door of Australia's new-car market since the COVID-19 pandemic, but in 2025 they're set to kick it wide open as they push harder for customers.
In 2025 there will be more Chinese brands than ever before in Australian showrooms, promising greater choice and lower prices as they look to establish themselves among local favourites.
Australia has more than sixty new car brands – and counting – with Japanese car maker Toyota the best-selling manufacturer for more than two decades, but the Chinese brands are making inroads.
Sales of almost every Chinese manufacturer increased Down Under in 2024, although many have come from a low base – yet it's still an accomplishment in one of the world's most competitive markets.
The level of competition is set to increase further in 2025, with brands from China set to arrive here including Jaecoo, Deepal, GAC/Aion and Geely – owner of Volvo, Polestar and Lotus – as a vehicle brand itself.
MORE: A flood of new Chinese car brands is nearing Australia – everything you need to know
If that's not enough, Zeekr, Leapmotor and XPeng from China launched in Australia in late 2024, while a revitalised Smart brand – now a 50:50 partnership between Geely and Mercedes-Benz – returned to showrooms with Chinese-made cars, too.
"China is a significant source of vehicle manufacturing for many well-established brands in addition to being the home of many new brands in the Australian market," FCAI (Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries) Chief Executive Tony Weber told Drive.
"The range of new models across an increasing number of product segments means that Australians can expect to see many more Chinese made vehicles on our roads in the future.
"Ultimately, this means greater competition in the market which will result in vehicles with more advanced technologies and lower prices."
The first Toyota – a LandCruiser – was brought to Australia in 1957, with the car maker topping the sales charts for the first time 34 years later with a mix of imported and Australian-made vehicles.
MORE: Best electric cars coming to Australia in 2024 and 2025
Will the proliferation lead to acceptance of Chinese brands such as BYD, Leapmotor and XPeng as mainstream brands alongside Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai – and elevate them up the sales charts in the process?
Several Chinese brands are already mainstays on Australian new-car shopping lists.
MG is the most successful Chinese automotive manufacturer in Australia to date when it comes to sales, with a public goal of becoming a Top Three best-selling brand by 2030.
MG broke through into the top ten in February 2021 and – proving it was not a fluke – finished the year in ninth, rose to seventh in 2022 and repeated it with seventh in 2023, posting 58,346 sales, an increase of 17.7 per cent. It'll finish 2024 in the top ten yet again.
The updated MG ZS SUV – the best-selling MG in Australia – landed late in 2024 with a new look, tech and a hybrid powertrain option to kickstart its 2025 sales campaign, with the MG Cyberster electric roadster its flagship pin-up.
MORE: BYD could overtake Ford in 2024 sales after record third quarter
The car maker will double its Australian range in the next 12 months with four new models – including three new nameplates – with more premium-pitched vehicles taking on everything from the BYD Atto 3 electric SUV to the Tesla Model Y.
This will include the MG S5 EV (electric vehicle) SUV – which replaces the MG ZS EV SUV in the line-up – with the brand's first three-row seven-seat SUV, the MG QS, due to arrive in Australia before the end of 2025.
China's BYD has even more ambitious goals: it wants to topple Toyota as the most popular brand in Australia by 2030 – which would make it the first to outsell the Japanese brand here since 2002.
Already the third-best selling Chinese brand – posting a whopping 68.2 per cent increased by the end of November – BYD is yet to crack the Top 15, yet it's gathering momentum as it expands it product lines.
In 2025 Australian BYD shoppers will have the Sealion 7 battery-electric SUV – a Tesla Model Y rival – in showrooms from February which importers EVDirect say will become the brand's best-selling electric vehicle Down Under.
MORE: MG aims for Top Three by 2030 in Australia with new-model blitz
It will join the BYD Shark 6 plug-hybrid dual-cab ute – a direct rival to the most popular vehicle in Australia, the Ford Ranger – joining the BYD Sealion 6 electric SUV launched in 2024.
Other yet-to-be-confirmed releases may include the Atto 2 small SUV – which would sit below the existing Atto 3 electric SUV – and the BYD Seagull, positioned below the Dolphin electric city car.
This will give BYD a much wider model line-up for the new year, but it still won't be as broad a range as Great Wall Motors (GWM), which includes the Haval brand, and stands between BYD and MG as the second-best selling Chinese brand in Australia at tenth overall.
With record sales – passing its 2023 total yearly sales of 36,397 with a month to spare in 2024 – GWM also has a strong 107-dealer network behind it.
With its popular Haval Jolion SUV and two dual-cab utes – including the GWM Cannon Alpha hybrid – joined by the GWM Ora electric city car, its arguably the most comprehensive line-up from a Chinese maker in Australia.
MORE: Australia could be a 'dumping' ground for electric cars warns local car boss
Spearheading its 2025 sales assault is the GWM Haval H6 GT PHEV (plug-in hybrid) SUV due in local showrooms by the end of February.
With the longest electric-only driving range of any hybrid sold here, the H6 GT PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) – priced at $55,990 drive-away – is cheaper than a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Cruiser, entry level Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and BYD Sealion 6 Premium electric SUV.
It'll bolster sales alongside the GWM Cannon Alpha hybrid ute, which landed in Australia last May and gives GWM two at the dual-cab cherry with the turbo-diesel GWM Ute sold alongside it.
The GWM Ora hatchback began 2025 holding the title of Australia's cheapest electric vehicle in an ongoing battle with the BYD Dolphin and MG4 for the claim – with the Dolphin having just reclaimed it – but is also likely to come under threat yet again from new rivals.
Global headwinds for the Chinese auto industry include the return of Donald Trump to the White House as US President on 20 January 2025.
MORE: Chinese electric cars 'an existential threat' – Ford boss
Trump made a public pledge to 'tax Chinese cars out of the US' – the world's second largest new vehicle market where around 16 million vehicles are sold each year.
While Australia is not immune to tariff wars with China on products such as wine, beef and barley among others, despite a Free-trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations, it has not impacted Chinese-made cars sold here.
Australia's automotive industry was born out of tariffs – dating back to 1917 – which saw the popularity of locally-made cars here until they were wound back to five percent in 2010.
It saw the Mazda 3 become the first imported car since 1948 to top the sales charts, knocking off the Holden Commodore from the number one spot in 2011.
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) – meaning zero tariffs – were signed with multiple car-making nations including Thailand (2014), South Korea, Japan (2015) and China (2015).
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