Kia Australia boss says Chinese car brands will be in Top Five within three years
China is now the third-biggest source of new motor vehicles in Australia after overtaking South Korea in June, as it rockets up the charts. Five years ago Chinese cars represented less than 1 per cent of local sales.
A Chinese car brand will be among the Top Five sellers locally "within the next two to three years" says the top executive for Kia Australia.
The highest monthly result any Chinese brand has recorded in Australia so far was when MG ranked fifth in December last year and seventh for the full calendar year.
However, industry analysts believe it is only a matter of time before MG will be joined inside the Top 10 by other fast-growing Chinese brands such as GWM Haval (formerly known as Great Wall Motors) and LDV.
The latest data shows the sales of cars from China in the first seven months of this year (111,705) have almost eclipsed the tally for the entire 2022 calendar year (122,845).
Indeed, August 2023 sales figures are expected to show China will have delivered more new cars to Australia in the first eight months of this year than it did in 12 months last year.
It has been an unprecedented and meteoric rise. Five years ago, Chinese cars accounted for 1 per cent of new motor vehicles sales in Australia; so far this year they represent 16.5 per cent of the mix, when non Chinese-branded – but Chinese manufactured – cars are included.
This means China is now the third-biggest source of new motor vehicles in Australia – behind Japan and Thailand – after overtaking South Korea in June and July.
When Damien Meredith, the Australian boss of South Korean car-maker Kia, was asked when a Chinese company would be consistently inside the Top Five locally, he said:
"I think there will be a Chinese brand in the Top Five in Australia within the next two to three years."
When asked if sister brands Kia and Hyundai felt threatened in their positions – currently third (Kia) and fifth (Hyundai) on the sales charts for the first seven months of this year – Mr Meredith said:
"We look at all competitors, we respect all competitors. Then we get back in our bubble and go and do what we know how to do best."
Last year, Kia overtook sister brand Hyundai for the first time in a full calendar year in Australia. When asked how this year's battle was shaping up between the two sibling rivals, Mr Meredith said:
"It really depends who gets (vehicle) supply, because the supply situation changes dramatically. You can go from Number Two to Number Five in a month. So whether we finish third, fourth, fifth, is neither here nor there.
"We focus heavily on other areas of the business such as how we’re looking after the customer, how we’re looking after the dealer network, the customer's trust in us as a brand."
As previously reported, Chinese cars accounted for more than 10 per cent of new motor vehicle sales in Australia in 2022, claiming their biggest slice of the local market to date as they eroded the dominance of motor vehicles manufactured in Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
Cars from China overtook those from Germany and the USA two years ago. Last year China ranked fourth as a source country and so far this year it now ranks third.
Although Chinese automakers MG, Great Wall Motors (GWM) Haval, and LDV have made massive inroads into the Australian new-car market in the past few years, the official new-car sales tally by country-of-origin also includes Chinese-manufactured Tesla, BYD and Polestar electric vehicles.
MG – which is owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) – reported just shy of 50,000 new motor vehicles as sold in Australia in 2022. That's more than triple MG's annual tally in Australia three years ago.
MG outsold Hyundai and Mitsubishi to rank fifth outright in the December 2022 new-car sales race – its highest result to date – and finished the year in seventh place ahead of Isuzu, Subaru and Volkswagen.
Great Wall Motors Haval reported 25,000 new motor vehicles as sold in Australia in 2022, more than five times higher than its annual tally three years ago.
The independently-distributed LDV brand – which specialises in utes and vans – reported a record 16,200 new vehicle deliveries in Australia last year.
Representatives for all three Chinese brands in Australia said they could have sold even more vehicles last year had they been able to import enough stock, but supply was restricted by production interruptions in the wake of the pandemic.
The tables below show the rise of Chinese car sales in Australia over the past five years, and so far this year.
Country of origin | 2018 sales | 2019 sales | 2020 sales | 2021 sales | 2022 sales | 2023 YTD sales |
Japan | 356,230 | 341,663 | 309,601 | 350,934 | 330,061 | 183,385 |
Thailand | 300,274 | 297,482 | 213,456 | 230,520 | 245,608 | 142,386 |
South Korea | 169,315 | 175,802 | 123,725 | 145,025 | 159,244 | 96,467 |
China | 10,489 (11th) | 17,957 (7th) | 30,696 (6th) | 76,262 | 122,845 | 111,705 |
Country of origin | 2018 market share | 2019 market share | 2020 market share | 2021 market share | 2022 market share | 2023 YTD market share |
Japan | 30.9 per cent | 28.7 per cent | 33.8 per cent | 33.4 per cent | 30.5 per cent | 27.0 per cent |
Thailand | 26.0 per cent | 25.0 per cent | 23.3 per cent | 22.0 per cent | 22.7 per cent | 21.0 per cent |
South Korea | 14.7 per cent | 14.8 per cent | 13.5 per cent | 13.8 per cent | 14.7 per cent | 14.2 per cent |
China | 0.9 per cent | 1.7 per cent | 3.3 per cent | 7.3 per cent | 11.4 per cent | 16.5 per cent |
MG sales in Australia
- 2022 – 49,582, 7th outright in sales
- 2021 – 39,025, 9th outright in sales
- 2020 – 15,253, 17th outright in sales
- 2019 – 8326, 21st outright in sales
- 2018 – 3007, 30th outright in sales
Great Wall Motors Haval sales in Australia
- 2022 – 25,042, 13th outright in sales
- 2021 – 18,384, 14th outright in sales
- 2020 – 5235, 27th outright in sales
- 2019 – 3107, 31st outright in sales
- 2018 – 1417, 36th outright in sales
LDV sales in Australia
- 2022 – 16,269, 17th outright in sales
- 2021 – 15,188, 18th outright in sales
- 2020 – 9323, 18th outright in sales
- 2019 – 6480, 25th outright in sales
- 2018 – 6064, 24th outright in sales
Source: Drive.com.au data centre.