Chinese electric car makers are expected to flood Australia with cheap imports as Americans and Europeans embark on a trade war to protect their local vehicle makers.
A dozen new Chinese car brands are expected to arrive in Australia over the next two years, a situation described as “unprecedented” that will “massively change the market”.
Former Industry and Labor Minister Kim Carr predicts that trade protectionism in the United States and the European Union will see China increasingly sell electric vehicles for less than $40,000 in Australia.
Australia has had a free trade agreement with China since 2015, meaning cars from our largest trading partner are sold to Australian drivers without import duties or taxes.
Australians can now buy cheap Chinese electric vehicles, including the BYD Dolphin for $36,890, the MG4 for $39,990 and the GWM Ora for $35,990.
“I have no doubt there will be cheaper Chinese vehicles,” Carr told Daily Mail Australia.
‘International manufacturers were launching vehicles here, a testing ground for advanced-income economies.
Chinese electric carmakers are expected to flood Australia with cheap imports as the Americans and Europeans raise tariffs to protect their local vehicle makers (pictured, a NIO ETS EV in Beijing).
Former Minister for Industry and Labor Kim Carr predicts that trade protectionism in the US and EU will lead to China increasingly selling electric vehicles for less than $40,000 in Australia
‘The United States will embark on a trade war with the Chinese to protect its American auto industry; the Germans will implement measures to try to preserve the German automotive industry; The French still have a very strong industry.
“There are very few virtues when it comes to international trade relations around manufactured goods.”
Chinese-made cars already control 80 percent of Australia’s electric vehicle market, and government subsidies from the Chinese Communist Party government are widely believed to spark a trade war with the United States and Europe, leading to higher import tariffs on Chinese goods in those markets.
This would see more Chinese electric vehicles sold in Australia, in addition to the BYD Atto 3, MG ZS and Chinese-made versions of the popular American-designed Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.
Motoring expert Toby Hagon, editor of Electric power plantHe said a dozen Chinese car brands were expected to arrive in Australia over the next two years, including Zeekr, XPeng Motors, Geely, which owns Volvo and Polestar, Lynk and Co, Leapmotor, Jaecoo, Changan and Nio.
“Not all of them are confirmed – they are either expected to come or have indicated their intention to come to Australia,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“The impending onslaught of Chinese-made, but predominantly electric, electric and hybrid cars is unprecedented in the coming years.
‘It looks like we’re going to have a dozen new brands coming into the country, so it’s potentially going to massively change the market.
‘Australia is a very open market in terms of the car market; Europe and the United States, for example, are talking about imposing trade sanctions on vehicles made in China to try to protect their own automakers.’
Mr Carr predicted Australian motorists would increasingly embrace Chinese-made cars, as they did with Japanese cars in the 1970s and Korean cars in the 1990s.
“We saw a similar pattern with Japanese vehicles: people were initially resistant to Japanese and Korean vehicles only to discover that, over time, they were a high-quality product,” he said.
‘Therefore, Chinese quality has improved dramatically and will improve further; That’s when we’ll start to see serious competition.
“People don’t want to spend $40,000 on a motor vehicle and not have confidence.”
Australians can now buy cheap Chinese EVs including the BYD Dolphin for $36,890, the MG4 from $39,990 and the GWM Ora (pictured) from $35,990.
Chinese carmakers are also set to bring even more petrol-electric hybrid and electric vehicles to Australia, with a BYD Shark plug-in hybrid pickup truck planned for later this year to compete with the Ford Ranger, designed in Australia but built in Thailand , and the Toyota HiLux.
BYD, which has overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, will also bring a Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUV to Australia.
Battery electric vehicles had a market share of 8.1 percent in May, compared to 15.8 percent for gasoline electric hybrids and plug-in hybrids, according to data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
“Tesla is bringing its cars from China, BMW is bringing an electric car from China, Kia is about to import an electric car from China and then there are the Chinese brands,” Hagon said.
“China is already dominating and it looks like they are going to take advantage of that.”