How long Chinese auto brands have been in Australia

GWM is putting its Australian history in the spotlight with an 18th anniversary campaign and October offers across its SUV and ute range, which made us think about how simple it is to treat all Chinese car brands as one group of newcomers.

Some have been selling vehicles here since the early 2010s. Others have left and returned. Several have changed distributors, while the latest arrivals are still approaching their first Australian anniversaries.

GWM’s campaign celebrates what it calls 18 years in Australia. Great Wall vehicles launched in Australia on June 24, 2009 – 17 years ago, with the brand now in its 18th year.

The original Great Wall SA220 and Great Wall V240 utes were introduced through independent distributor Ateco. Today, GWM is a much larger operation, having finished September as Australia’s sixth best-selling vehicle brand, but the road between those two points wasn’t uninterrupted.

GWM’s history in Australia

GWM's original Australian operation ran into a distribution dispute, with new imports stopping during the Ateco era and remaining stock continuing to find buyers. Factory-controlled distribution followed in 2016, with the Great Wall name subsequently being phased out in favour of GWM.

That gives GWM two relevant milestones of 17 years since the original Australian launch and 10 years since the factory took responsibility for local distribution.

Haval has its own Australian history within that broader story. It was launched in October 2015 with the Haval H2, Haval H8, and Haval H9, giving the SUV brand 11 years of local history.

It's now considered a sub-brand of GWM in Australia, much like Tank and Ora even though all three are full-fledged brands in their home market.

The first Tank and Ora models reached Australian customers in 2023.

Check our CarExpert Atlas if you want to see the sales figures for any of these cars throughout the years.

GWM family: Australian arrivals

Chery and Geely are returnees, not first-timers

Chery’s current operation began in March 2023, but its first Australian launch took place in 2011 through Ateco.

The original business was winding down in 2015, although residual registrations continued through 2018. Chery then returned under factory-owned distribution, initially with the Chery Omoda 5.

That makes Chery a brand with a 15-year Australian history, but only three years in its current incarnation. To imagine a brand becoming a substantial top 10 player in just three years is rather remarkable.

Geely’s history is similar, although its first attempt was much more geographically limited.

The Geely MK went on sale in Western Australia in January 2011 through John Hughes’ Chinese Automotive Distributors. That operation ran between 2011 and 2014.

The factory-backed national launch of the Geely EX5 in March 2025 was therefore a return to Australia, not the brand’s first appearance here. Geely has 15 years of local history, but only one year in its current national operation which has seen it become the 13th best-selling brand in 2026.

MG and LDV

MG’s Australian story is complicated by its British heritage, which predates the Chinese-owned operation.

For the modern Chinese-owned era, the relevant starting point is April 2013, when the MG 6 was introduced through Longwell Motor. SAIC’s factory-run Australian reboot followed in October 2016.

It's therefore been 13 years since the brand's modern return, or 10 years since the factory took control.

LDV has a similar distinction between its original launch and its better-known distributor. The LDV V80 went on sale through WMC in January 2013, after an earlier proposed 2012 introduction. Ateco took over in July 2014 and relaunched the range later that year.

LDV’s current Australian distribution history therefore goes back 12 years, while its original local launch was 13 years ago.

The ute market has seen more than one false start

Foton’s latest Australian ute range is new, but the name isn’t.

Its original local ute operation began in 2012 and passed through several distribution arrangements before ending in 2019. The new Foton Tunland range reached dealerships through Inchcape in October 2025.

JAC is even more complicated. The JAC T9 arrived through LTS Auto in 2024, but JAC trucks had already been represented in Australia by 2012. Its current ute business is just two years old.

Not every early entrant established a lasting retail presence. ZX Auto sold the GrandTiger during 2012–2015, while JMC’s original Vigus operation ran from 2015 to 2018. A JMC return has since been announced.

BYD was here before the Atto 3

The BYD Atto 3 established BYD’s mass-market passenger-car presence in 2022, which was the launch of a brand that has since become the second best-selling auto brand in 2026 so far, but it wasn’t the first BYD vehicle offered in Australia.

Limited retail offerings of the BYD e6 and BYD T3 preceded it in 2021. Earlier still, e6 taxis were already operating in Sydney by October 2020.

BYD took over Australian distribution from EVDirect on July 1, 2025. It has therefore been five years since BYD's limited retail introduction, four years since the Atto 3 launch, and one year under full factory distribution.

BYD: from taxis to factory distribution

Which brands really are recent arrivals?

The latest group of electric-vehicle brands has a much shorter Australian history.

Zeekr launched here in October 2024, initially with the Zeekr X. Leapmotor followed in November with the Leapmotor C10, while Deepal opened orders for the Deepal S07 later that year through Inchcape.

Xpeng also began its Australian retail operation in 2024 through TrueEV, opening pre-orders in June and delivering its first Xpeng G6 customer vehicles later in the year. The brand moved to factory-run distribution earlier this year, though the process wasn't as smooth as with BYD and EVDirect with Xpeng and TrueEV duking it out in Federal Court before the matter was dismissed in August 2026.

The following year brought another set of names.

Chery-owned brand Jaecoo launched the Jaecoo J7 in May 2025. The Omoda 9 followed in August through the Omoda Jaecoo operation. Although the Omoda name had already appeared on a Chery model in 2023, that isn’t the same as the separate Omoda offering introduced in 2025. Chery considers Omoda Jaecoo to be one brand, albeit one that sells separate Omoda-badged and Jaecoo-badged vehicles.

MG introduced its premium IM offering in 2025, announcing Australian pricing and reservations for the IM5 and IM6 in June, ahead of the broader delivery rollout; its vehicles are sold through MG dealerships under the IM Presented By MG Motor banner.

Geely commercial-vehicle brand Farizon was also launched locally in April 2025 through Jameel Motors.

GAC’s Australian launch followed in November 2025 with the Aion V, Emzoom, and M8. Aion is another example of something marketed as a brand in China and other markets, but positioned as a sub-brand in Australia.

BYD-owned Denza opened its initial Australian dealerships in December 2025, with Denza B5 customer deliveries following in January 2026 and Denza B8 deliveries in February.

Its local history is measured in months, regardless of how long parent company BYD has operated here.

Forthing is newer again, introducing the Taikon 5 through Ateco in June 2026.

European-origin brands introduce another complication. Smart was sold here from 2003 to 2015 before returning in September 2024 with its new electric range, while Polestar’s standalone Australian operation launched in November 2021.

It’s remarkable to see how quickly some of these Chinese brands have gone from no-names to the top 10, displacing brands with 100+ years of history.

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