Chinese Car Brands heading to Australia

f4m3r · 05-11-2010, 10:54 AM

It looks like we might have a flood of new Chinese car brands heading to Australia with the first already here being Great Wall Motors (GWM).

By the looks of the reviews i've been reading, they are a no no (ie. great wall x240 review), with poor... well everything.

I've been told the date is nearing for Australian importers to release the other Chinese brands shortly, these being:

Chery (4 new models +)
Lifan (4 new models +)
Geely (4 new models +)
BYD (1 new models +)

I wanted to know your thoughts on the currently sold Chinese made GWM vehicles here and also if a new trend will start for buying these cheaply made vehicles? Will cheaply made "disposible" cars that last 3-5years be the next step?

And if this trend does begin, will we see the decline in manufacturing quality from the other brands to meet a competitive cost?

flappist · 05-11-2010, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f4m3r

It looks like we might have a flood of new Chinese car brands heading to Australia with the first already here being Great Wall Motors (GWM).

By the looks of the reviews i've been reading, they are a no no (ie. great wall x240 review), with poor... well everything.

I've been told the date is nearing for Australian importers to release the other Chinese brands shortly, these being:

Chery (4 new models +)
Lifan (4 new models +)
Geely (4 new models +)
BYD (1 new models +)

I wanted to know your thoughts on the currently sold Chinese made GWM vehicles here and also if a new trend will start for buying these cheaply made vehicles? Will cheaply made "disposible" cars that last 3-5years be the next step?

And if this trend does begin, will we see the decline in manufacturing quality from the other brands to meet a competitive cost?

And of course Australians never ever trade quality for price.

Ben73 · 05-11-2010, 12:22 PM

Other manufactures better not start sacrificing quality for price. I will happily pay double the price of a Chinese vehicle for a proper car.

davessleepin351 · 05-11-2010, 12:39 PM

maybe procomp are building thier engines for them?

ltd · 05-11-2010, 01:02 PM

Funnily enough they sell very few chinese cars in china. Chinese cars are made for international markets as even the chinese now how dubious the quality is. American, Japanese and European cars are very big in China. Reverse engineered cars will only sell to the stupid and the ignorant.

flappist · 05-11-2010, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben73

Other manufactures better not start sacrificing quality for price. I will happily pay double the price of a Chinese vehicle for a proper car.

Would you pay double the airfare so you don't fly jetstar/virgin?
Would you pay double for your internet access to ensure it works all the time?
Would you pay double for your mobile phone access to ensure you have coverage everywhere?
Would you pay double for your groceries to ensure that Australian farmers and/or corner stores remain in business?

The other manufacturers (inc Ford & FPV) have ALREADY sacrificed quality for price over and over again. If they did not there would be constant winging and very few sales at $100k++ for a GT.

We all huff and puff and then when it comes to the crunch make every excuse in the world for backflipping on principles.

fg_nitro · 05-11-2010, 01:23 PM

Well people can buy this junk like they buy junk they dont need. What's the difference? Keep it for 3 years throw it away.

However I will not be buying any car that does not have a 5 star safety rating.

Youtube some of the great wall ANCAP tests

vztrt · 05-11-2010, 01:37 PM

If you wanna read whats been happening so far.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11264459

flappist · 05-11-2010, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fg_nitro

Well people can buy this junk like they buy junk they dont need. What's the difference? Keep it for 3 years throw it away.

However I will not be buying any car that does not have a 5 star safety rating.

Youtube some of the great wall ANCAP tests

Which brings up an interesting point.....

If these chinese rockets are dangerous because they have a fairly low ANCAP rating then where does that put all the second hand falcons with the same low ANCAP ratings?

Franco Cozzo · 05-11-2010, 05:12 PM

Its bound to happen, Australia has a habit of arking up about something, then doing nothing about the problem, its Australia summed up pretty much. If you don't like these cars, don't buy them, simple.

Lowest price always wins unfortunately, what Flappist said is 100% correct. Everyone whinges and moans about something, but when they need to pay more money for what they want, the complaints dissapear.

Nothing like waving an Australian flag on Australia day thats MADE IN CHINA.

Ben73 · 05-11-2010, 05:57 PM

My Missus just got back from China and said everyone there drives VW's and Audis.

So not even Chinese people buy Chinese cars!

bobthebilda · 05-11-2010, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben73

My Missus just got back from China and said everyone there drives VW's and Audis.

So not even Chinese people buy Chinese cars!

Your wife should have looked at the "made in" label on the car. Chances are the audi would have been one of the million Audi car sthat have been made in china in the last 20 years.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/22/a...ales-in-china/

Or was it the chinese made VW she saw.

http://www.newstatesman.com/automoti...china-vehicles

Chinese people buy chinese cars, and The major car companies around the world are satisifed enough with Chinese quality to build Major manufacturing plants there.

vztrt · 05-11-2010, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

Your wife should have looked at the "made in" label on the car. Chances are the audi would have been one of the million Audi car sthat have been made in china in the last 20 years.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/22/a...ales-in-china/

Or was it the chinese made VW she saw.

http://www.newstatesman.com/automoti...china-vehicles

Chinese people buy chinese cars, and The major car companies around the world are satisifed enough with Chinese quality to build Major manufacturing plants there.

Chinese people prefer non chinese brands but buy chinese cause thats what they can afford. Mind you they prefer Japanese cars (even if they hate their guts).

Also the import tarrifs on cars in china is very high, so its not like exporting cars there would work. But VW has been there for a long time.

388cube_edxr8 · 06-11-2010, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Which brings up an interesting point.....

If these chinese rockets are dangerous because they have a fairly low ANCAP rating then where does that put all the second hand falcons with the same low ANCAP ratings?

At the top of the Carsales page when you sort by price. I would rather pay 6000 for an old Falcon than 26000 for a new Chinese heap of junk with a fraction of the power and the same safety rating.

Chinese cars are like the BMW 1 series. There is a market for them, and they do have their uses, but at that price you have to be stupid or ignorant to buy one.

Crazy Dazz · 06-11-2010, 02:34 AM

It's like the Lada Cevaro, and the FSM Niki allover again.

The Yeti · 06-11-2010, 06:40 AM

we cant bag them guys

I just loged in to this site (I had issues with my nerd box and deletes all cookies etc so had to log back in) and there is a Great wall advert on our very own ford forums page.

Unfortunatly people will buy the stuff, thats how hyundai got its start and just like when hyundai and kia started with their super cheap rubbish the Australian new and used car markets took a hit People wont pay 20k for a quality 2nd hand car when for 19,990 drive away they can buy a new pile of crap with a warranty

ThaFlash · 06-11-2010, 07:02 AM

the car is probably more australian than you think, all the metal probably came from here as scrap.

I am waiting for the WonTon model so I can dumpling the suspension, chopstick the roof top, replace the abs with msg... thank you Mr. Hoon....

vztrt · 06-11-2010, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HP4ME

the car is probably more australian than you think, all the metal probably came from here as scrap.

I am waiting for the WonTon model so I can dumpling the suspension, chopstick the roof top, replace the abs with msg... thank you Mr. Hoon....

You'll find a few of the Geely models will be running the same 4 speed as our old Falcons and was engineered here in Melbourne.

wrongwaynorris · 06-11-2010, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Would you pay double the airfare so you don't fly jetstar/virgin?
Would you pay double for your internet access to ensure it works all the time?
Would you pay double for your mobile phone access to ensure you have coverage everywhere?
Would you pay double for your groceries to ensure that Australian farmers and/or corner stores remain in business?

The other manufacturers (inc Ford & FPV) have ALREADY sacrificed quality for price over and over again. If they did not there would be constant winging and very few sales at $100k++ for a GT.

We all huff and puff and then when it comes to the crunch make every excuse in the world for backflipping on principles.

Not all of us Flappist

FNQracing · 06-11-2010, 10:27 AM

Its amusing reading the comments about the Chinese cars. 10 years ago it was Korean cars, and 40 years ago it was the Japanese. And guess what? They were all supposed to be *****.

They weren't. The Chinese are here to stay -at the expense of the Aussies/Japs/Koreans. The Chinese are going to go gangbusters. There will be a line of people stretching around the block to get themselves into a Brand New $8999 Cherry.

Be under no illusion. Cheap wins in todays mass market economy.

flappist · 06-11-2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 388cube_edxr8

At the top of the Carsales page when you sort by price. I would rather pay 6000 for an old Falcon than 26000 for a new Chinese heap of junk with a fraction of the power and the same safety rating.

Chinese cars are like the BMW 1 series. There is a market for them, and they do have their uses, but at that price you have to be stupid or ignorant to buy one.

Yep because if you want to drive a car that was built with a low safety rating it is important to make sure it is old, worn, cheap and powerful, to compensate for its lack of safety of course......lucky you are not stupid or ignorant though and realised this.

flappist · 06-11-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Not all of us Flappist

Yes true, but unfortunately it seems to be the majority.

Pepscobra · 06-11-2010, 12:31 PM

And its going to get worse folks...
With the Aussie dollar being so strong (potentially for a little while yet) these cheap imported cars may get even cheaper.
The home grown fords and holdens just wont be able to compete price-wise with these cars. But what they will do is import more chinese sourced cars to badge as fords and holdens so we can all still feel good when buying these cheap cars.
Best thing the aussie car makers can do is continue and improve quality. There will be a good market for these budget chinese cars, no doubt, but i feel there will still be a market for a well built local product too.

Ben73 · 06-11-2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

And its going to get worse folks...
With the Aussie dollar being so strong (potentially for a little while yet) these cheap imported cars may get even cheaper.
The home grown fords and holdens just wont be able to compete price-wise with these cars. But what they will do is import more chinese sourced cars to badge as fords and holdens so we can all still feel good when buying these cheap cars.
Best thing the aussie car makers can do is continue and improve quality. There will be a good market for these budget chinese cars, no doubt, but i feel there will still be a market for a well built local product too.

If you said that imported cars are going to get cheaper, expensive imported cars will get cheaper as well.
Something like a BMW or Alfa for the price of a locally made Falcon or Commodore sounds good to me then.

shifted · 06-11-2010, 06:45 PM

Would not own one. Would not buy one. The adverts are horrendous as well. Have seen copious amounts on the roads though.

Good work is not cheap. Cheap work is not good.

388cube_edxr8 · 06-11-2010, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Yep because if you want to drive a car that was built with a low safety rating it is important to make sure it is old, worn, cheap and powerful, to compensate for its lack of safety of course......lucky you are not stupid or ignorant though and realised this.

I see your point. Instead of an older, cheaper, powerful, unsafe car, I should buy a new, expensive, underpowered, imported, unsafe car, because I am clever and pay attention to things.

Actually, I don't see your point. What was it again?

Marquis 351 · 06-11-2010, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davesdodgy351

maybe procomp are building thier engines for them?

HaHa! Apperntly you love pro comp!!!

NOT! Seriosly! DO NOT BUY THESE CARS! They will be the Final nail in the dying australian car industry!

Pepscobra · 07-11-2010, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben73

If you said that imported cars are going to get cheaper, expensive imported cars will get cheaper as well.
Something like a BMW or Alfa for the price of a locally made Falcon or Commodore sounds good to me then.

Technically correct... But very unlikely.
The luxo brands dont need to discount prices to get sales. They are more concerned about brand image and brand placement. People who buy these cars want to be able to tell their friends/work associates that they paid more, not less.
These new-to-market brands need to discount to get sales and they will take advantage of market influences to be able to lower prices further in order to get more sales.
Remember, people who will be interested in cars like these wont typically be car enthusiests. They just want something cheap for the job.

paule11 · 07-11-2010, 05:43 PM

[QUOTE=flappist]Would you pay double the airfare so you don't fly jetstar/virgin?
Would you pay double for your internet access to ensure it works all the time?
Would you pay double for your mobile phone access to ensure you have coverage everywhere?
Would you pay double for your groceries to ensure that Australian farmers and/or corner stores remain in business?

Yes,Yes,No.No

TC200six · 07-11-2010, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f4m3r

I wanted to know your thoughts on the currently sold Chinese made GWM vehicles here and also if a new trend will start for buying these cheaply made vehicles? Will cheaply made "disposible" cars that last 3-5years be the next step?

And if this trend does begin, will we see the decline in manufacturing quality from the other brands to meet a competitive cost?

If they really will be extremely dirt cheap such as around $20,000 for a Camry-sized car, shouldn't they put heavy tariffs on the cheap & nasty cars so that it won't force other manufactures to heavily decline their quality just to say afloat?