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Sales of Chinese-made cars have continued to boom, but some of Australia's longest-serving brands look to be cracking under the pressure of new entrants.
More than 250,000 Chinese-made cars have been sold in a calendar year in Australia for the first time – and now place China as our number-two source of new vehicles, ahead of Thailand.
But MG and LDV – both part of the SAIC group – have recorded their lowest sales in four and five years, respectively, despite introducing more advanced, all-new models to succeed or market alongside their top sellers.
It is a new record – ahead of 2023's tally of 193,433, as sales dipped in 2024 – and now account for 20.4 per cent, or more than one in five vehicles sold.
China is now Australia's second-largest source of new motor vehicles, ahead of Thailand (249,958) and Japan (358,981) – which accounted for 20.1 and 28.9 per cent of the car market, respectively.
Thailand – where utes such as the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux are built – was overtaken by China in certain months during 2025, but it has held onto the lead for the calendar year.
However, fewer cars built in Thailand and Japan were sold in Australia in 2025 than the year prior – down 8.2 per cent, and 5.3 per cent respectively – amid the rise in Chinese cars.
Three Chinese-nationality car brands placed among the Top 10 sellers last year – GWM, BYD, and MG – with Chery, which finished the year in 13th, breaking into the top group at points in 2025.
Tesla – which is not Chinese, but built all but 226 cars it sold to Australians last year in China, so places among these figures – was the country's 15th best-selling new-car brand, clocking up 28,630 Chinese-made deliveries.
It sells the country's top-selling Chinese-produced car, the Tesla Model Y, with 22,013 of its 22,239 registrations in 2025 manufactured in what has become the world's largest car market.
GWM has overtaken MG as the country's top seller of cars made in China – and the top-selling Chinese-nationality brand – reporting 52,809 deliveries in 2025, up 23.4 per cent.
However, that tally includes a small number of electric Ora hatchbacks made in Thailand, which cannot be easily split out from the total as they are being sold alongside run-out Ora stock produced in China.
The title of Australia's top-selling Chinese-nationality car has changed hands, from the MG ZS small SUV – which is down 11.6 per cent to a neat 20,000 vehicles – to the Chery Tiggo 4, up 950.5 per cent to 20,149 cars.
MG sales are down 18.4 per cent year-on-year, to 42,297 vehicles – their lowest level since 39,025 cars were delivered in 2021 – allowing the brand to slip to 10th on the charts, down from seventh in 2024.
It is despite launching a wave of new models, including its first seven-seater, first ute, and a new ZS SUV which has not been able to match the popularity of its $22,990 drive-away predecessor – rather than $25,888 for today's model.
The ZS has lost its leadership in the small SUV category to the Hyundai Kona, while sales of MG's other segment best-seller – the MG 3 city hatch – are down 33.5 per cent, albeit in a market segment also down 27.7 per cent.
Mirroring MG with a sales decline is sister brand LDV, which, at 14,108 deliveries in 2025, also reported its lowest sales since 2020, and is down 11.9 per cent year-on-year.
It has slipped from 18th place to 22nd, amid a 42.7 per cent slump for the G10 van – albeit partially outweighed by the ramp-up of the newer, similarly-sized Deliver 7 – and a 31.8 per cent slide for its top seller, the T60 diesel ute.
The larger and more expensive Terron 9, launched in mid-2025 to sell alongside the T60, has attracted only 639 sales to date.
On the up is BYD, now Australia's second-best-selling Chinese car brand – up 156 per cent to 52,415 deliveries – thanks to 18,073 Shark 6 plug-in hybrid utes in its first year on sale.
The Sealion 7 electric SUV introduced in February 2025 has also added 13,410 sales to its tally, as have the 9055 Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUVs it reported as sold.
Take sales of other BYD models on sale this time last year – the Atto 3, Seal, and Dolphin electric cars – and the brand would dip into the red, with deliveries of these models down 23.6 per cent to 10,893 combined.
The Seal has faced the sharpest decline of the bunch, down 40.8 per cent to 3784 vehicles, while the Atto 3 is down 32.9 per cent to 3861 vehicles.
Help is on the way in the form of new models, from the BYD Sealion 5 five-seat and Sealion 8 seven-seat plug-in hybrids due in the coming months, as well as expected updates for the Shark 6, including a cab-chassis edition.
Chery sales are also on the up, growing by 177 per cent year-on-year to 34,889 vehicles – enough for 13th place overall, compared to 22nd a year earlier.
It has been driven by the runaway success of the budget-priced Tiggo 4, which has used prices starting from $23,990 drive-away to clock up 20,149 sales in 2025.
The Chinese giant's Omoda Jaecoo offshoot – sold through different dealers as a so-called "upmarket" option, though still at budget prices – would add a further 3721 vehicles to its sales tally.
New Chinese brands are finding their feet, including 5010 Geely electric and hybrid SUVs and 1206 Zeekr electric vehicles, while JAC has sold 1582 examples of its new T9 ute – and Leapmotor has delivered 644 of its family SUVs.
Not included in the data are sales of XPeng vehicles, understood to account for about 2000 G6 electric SUVs added to Australian roads in 2025.
Contributing to the tally are non-Chinese brands such as Volvo, which used Chinese factories to produce most of the 7239 cars it sold in 2025, as well as Polestar's 2373 sales, all manufactured in China.
Kia reported 4787 sales of its Chinese-made EV5 electric SUV, while Cupra handed over a quoted 339 Chinese-made Tavascans, and Mini delivered 604 Acemans made in the same nation.
| Country of origin | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Japan | 356,230 | 341,663 | 309,601 | 350,934 | 330,061 | 345,071 | 378,911 | 358,981 |
| Thailand | 300,274 | 297,482 | 213,456 | 230,520 | 245,608 | 264,253 | 272,139 | 249,958 |
| China | 10,489 (11th) | 17,957 (7th) | 30,696 (6th) | 76,262 (4th) | 122,845 (4th) | 193,433 (3rd) | 192,839 (3rd) | 252,702 (2nd) |
| South Korea | 169,315 | 175,802 | 123,725 | 145,025 | 159,244 | 161,614 | 157,760 | 149,966 |
| Country of origin | 2018 share | 2019 share | 2020 share | 2021 share | 2022 share | 2023 share | 2024 share | 2025 share |
| Japan | 30.9 per cent | 28.7 per cent | 33.8 per cent | 33.4 per cent | 30.5 per cent | 28.4 per cent | 30.6 per cent | 28.9 per cent |
| Thailand | 26.0 per cent | 25.0 per cent | 23.3 per cent | 22.0 per cent | 22.7 per cent | 21.7 per cent | 22 per cent | 20.1 per cent |
| China | 0.9 per cent | 1.7 per cent | 3.3 per cent | 7.3 per cent | 11.4 per cent | 15.9 per cent | 15.6 per cent | 20.3 per cent |
| South Korea | 14.7 per cent | 14.8 per cent | 13.5 per cent | 13.8 per cent | 14.7 per cent | 13.3 per cent | 12.8 per cent | 12 per cent |
GWM (Great Wall Motors) sales in Australia
Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Electric Vehicle Council data collated by Drive.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
