Two numbers framed the week. In September, more cars built in China were sold in Australia than cars built in Japan and Thailand together. And nearly 2,000 Australians placed a pre-order for a Chinese ute whose price has not been announced.
The source-country milestone
China-built vehicles outsold those from Japan and Thailand combined in September: 42,045 against 40,933, or 38.9% of the new-car market. The same thing happened in June, so this is no longer a one-off.
The market itself barely moved. Sales rose 1.8% year on year, and without BYD and Geely they would have fallen 5.2%. Chinese brands' sales were up 75.2%; every other brand combined was down 15.1%.
A ute sold before it is priced
Chery's Stockman plug-in hybrid ute has drawn about 10,000 registrations of interest and nearly 2,000 pre-orders, some of them deposits paid at dealerships without a price or a test drive. Chery Australia's chief operating officer called the response more nerve-racking than celebratory. Bookings cost A$1,000 and are fully refundable.
The specifications are now public: a 2.5-litre turbodiesel with an electric motor and a 34 kWh battery, 350 kW and 800 Nm combined, up to 96 km of electric range on the WLTP cycle. First deliveries are scheduled for February 1, 2027. See Chery.
The price floor moves again
Leapmotor priced the B03X from A$26,990 before on-road costs, making it Australia's lowest-priced electric SUV and putting it below the BYD Atto 2 Dynamic at A$31,990. It reaches showrooms in November with a 39.8 kWh battery and a claimed 292 km of range. See Leapmotor.
BYD, for its part, said it had not sacrificed quality to make the Atto 2 DM-i the cheapest plug-in hybrid, then added a A$25,990 drive-away offer less than two weeks after launch.
Xpeng priced the L03 from A$41,900, including its first extended-range version in this market. A comparison put the GWM Ora 5 Ultra at A$36,990 drive-away against A$47,990 for the entry Hyundai Kona Electric.
Arriving later
- Zeekr will launch the 7GT electric shooting brake in the fourth quarter; no price yet.
- Geely's Battleship 700 plug-in hybrid SUV is due in the second half of 2027.
- LDV brought diesel back to the D90, with a A$4,500 discount until October 31.
What it means
- Growth in this market is now coming almost entirely from Chinese brands; the rest are shrinking.
- A refundable deposit on the Stockman costs nothing to hold, but there is no price to judge it against until Chery announces one.
- At the cheap end of the EV market, list prices are changing within weeks of launch. Compare drive-away figures on the day you buy. More at Chinese cars in Australia.