Australians flock to buy Chinese-made cars with sales of some models tripling in 2020 despite the ongoing trade war
- Sales of Chinese-made Haval SUVs, LDV vans, Great Wall utes have doubled
- The market share of cars from China also doubled in 2020 compared with 2019
- This occurred during Covid and Australia's trade spat with the Communist power
Sales of Chinese-made cars in Australia have been doubling, tripling and in some cases even quadrupling despite a trade war.
The coronavirus crisis and Australia's strained relations with its biggest trading partner have failed to deter motorists from buying a much cheaper car manufactured in the Communist nation run by Xi Jinping.
The number of Haval SUVs sold locally has almost doubled from 1,706 in 2019 to 3,294 in 2020, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries data showed.
During that time, annual sales of the medium Haval H6 more than doubled from 475 to 957.
Sales of Chinese-made cars in Australia have been doubling and tripling despite a trade war. Sales of the smaller Haval H2 more than doubled from 918 to 1,988 with demonstrators available for less than $21,000
Sales of the smaller Haval H2 more than doubled from 918 to 1,988 with demonstrators available for less than $21,000 - or almost $10,000 less than a slightly larger Mazda CX-5.
Another compact SUV did phenomenally well with December sales of the MG ZS quadrupling to 1,010 from 240 in December 2019.
Chinese ute and van sales are also soaring too with 1,399 LDVs leaving showrooms in December - almost triple the monthly sales of 509 the same month a year earlier.
Great Wall ute sales last month stood at 250, more than double the 93 sold in the last month of 2019 following the release of the new GWM ute.
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Overall sales of Chinese-built cars surged by 70.9 per cent from 17,957 in 2019 to 30,696 in 2020.
This occurred as sales fell for cars made in Japan, Thailand and South Korea, albeit from much higher sales volumes in Australia during a bad year for car sales.
In December, 4,245 Chinese vehicles were sold, or more than double the December 2019 total of 1,502.
Great Wall ute sales last month stood at 250, more than double the 93 sold in the last month of 2019. Pictured is a GWM ute
In another sign of a changing car market, just one brand new Holden Commodore was sold in December 2020, compared with 498 for the German-built car in December 2019.
The Commodore was Australia's top-selling car every year from 1996 to 2010 when it was made locally in Adelaide but General Motors is this year killing off the Holden name, which had been a staple on Australian driveways since 1948.
Chinese cars first went on sale in Australia in 2009 with Great Wall selling V240 and SA220 dual-cab utes.
While Great Wall has lasted, another Chinese brand Chery didn't survive in Australia.
Chinese cars had a small 3.4 per cent market share in 2020 but this was double the 1.6 per cent share of 2019.
The coronavirus crisis and Australia's strained relations with its biggest trading partner have failed to deter motorists from buying a car manufactured in the Communist nation run by Xi Jinping.
