Chinese automakers taking over Australian market, says Kia boss

Many feel that Chinese cars are kind of like Godot, so they just come, come, but never actually come. Err, they are here and it is most noticeable in the Australian market, where more Chinese than Korean cars have been sold this year. It is the boss of Kie who admits that things are already bad.

Last weekend, the seventh Formula 1 race of the year took place in Barcelona, ​​Spain. It was completely dominated by Max Verstappen, who dominated not only all practice sessions, but also qualifying and the grand prix itself. In that one, he led every lap, while also driving the fastest ever. Something like this already clearly demonstrates the championship qualities of the Dutch rider, who is on course to win his third title in a row at the end of the season. But as brilliant as his performance in Spain was, what came next was more interesting.

“Verstappen is on a completely different level. It annoys me when I have to say something like that, but that’s just the way it is,” said Toto Wolff, head of rival Mercedes. And he added that the three-pointed star will have to really try to match the red bulls. After Spain, Red Bull has this year’s fastest stop, the mechanics were able to clear Sergio Perez after only 2.07 seconds. In addition, the Austrian team won all seven races, while the Germans only had two second and one third places.

However, Wolff’s statement is not the only surprise from this morning, Damien Meredith, the head of Kia’s Australian representative office, also released similar words on the air. However, he did not praise Verstappen, instead being the first to admit that the Chinese car manufacturers are what they have wanted to be for years. Their reach on the smallest continent has expanded enormously within a few years. In 2016, automakers from the Middle Kingdom sold only 2,927 new cars on the Australian market. A year later it was 4,689 units, then 10,489 and 17,957 cars.

A minor turning point came in 2020, when, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the goal of 30,000 registrations was surpassed for the first time. The following year, the Chinese already had 76,262 cars on their account, and last year there were even 122,845 cars sold. However, it is nothing against this year’s opening five months. Compared to the same period last year, registrations rose by 78.6 percent to 72,619 cars. Thus, for the first time in history, Chinese automakers have surpassed competition from South Korea.

That’s why Meredith’s words are as surprising as Wolff’s. “Their growth is really remarkable, especially when they’ve achieved it with a limited number of cars and with a limited number of dealers,” the Kia Australia boss said, adding that the established brands could expect “even more competition” in the future. According to him, the Chinese came, saw empty places in the market, occupied them and thus logically won. At the same time, it is impossible to compete with them due to their lower costs.

We have been pointing out something like this for a long time, albeit primarily in connection with European realities. Although the Chinese have a somewhat smaller profile on the old continent than in Australia, it is only a matter of time before the game is evened out. Paradoxically, Europe’s pressure on the electrification of cars can only speed up this process, in this field the Chinese have only more trumps up their sleeves.

Just like here, the dominant Chinese brand in Australia is MG. Last year, it sold 49,582 cars on the smallest continent, which ranked it seventh overall. Even in 2018, as the thirtieth, she had only 3,007 registrations. In addition, this year’s results will be a record again. Photo: MG Motor

Source: Drive

Petr Prokopec

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