First Chinese car to arrive in October
June 18, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
The time has come, Chinese made cars are now only a few months away from entering Australian markets. The distributor, Ateco Automotive (better known for brands such as Fiat/ Ferrari and Alfa Romeo) will import the first of many Chinese cars to Australia and New Zealand in October of this year.
The announcement comes as a surprise as previously we were told there would be no Chinese cars in Australia till at least 2009. According to Ateco negotiations have been going on for almost three years.
The first Chinese car to arrive in Australia will be from GWM (Great Wall Motor) and come in a form of a double can Ute. Ateco says the car will be priced “well under $20,000 in both Australia and New Zealand”.
“The GWM double cab Ute will be just the start,” says Ric Hull, Managing Director, Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd. “The Ute will be followed soon after with a single cab Ute, a compact SUV and an entry level light car. Pricing will be comparable to similar Korean models with a significantly higher specification.”
GMW is a well known manufacturer in China, with most of its success coming in the form of Ute and SUV models. Ateco also has a deal with rival Cherry automotive as mentioned previously.
Before October, Ateco aims to have at least 50 dealers across Australia. The campaign will be lead by David Stone, the man who is credited with setting up the Hyundai, Daewoo and Kia networks.
New Zealand and Australia will share the same product range, although New Zealand will only have five or six dealers at launch.
What should we expect from the Chinese hopefuls? If they are anything like the Indian made Mahindra Ute we drove last year, we might be a little disappointed, however Ateco has high hopes.
“From day one we have been thoroughly impressed with GWM. World class production facilities are becoming commonplace in China and there is no doubt that GWM has set the production benchmark. But what sets GWM apart is the corporate culture that permeates through the organisation.
The company motto is ‘Improving little by little every day’ and from what we have seen the staff really do live and breathe this philosophy. Every time we go to GWM’s head office in Baoding, we are impressed by the progress that has been made since our last visit.”
Ateco will announce full pricing and specification details before the brand goes on sale in October.
Print it: 
Maxrob, I would rather them improve first than bring it out here not bring out then improve because thats worse for both consumers and the brand of the company if these cars rate way too poorly and this goes to any product.
Competition is good when there the infrastructure to support them supports the demand for them, unfortunately our cities are getting too clogged up with cars. My neighbours if you average it our have at least 3 cars with one neighbour having 6!.
With these cars in the market I would love to see the second-hand market as a result, its going to be extra flooded.
IMO if your poor and living of ends meat, your more susceptable to default on loans etc because you have less things to sacrifice to counter any interest hike or change in income. Such cars can bring impulse to those people and lead to this way.
Your all racist, look at the tags on the clothes you dress your children in, Made in China. Look at where the parts are from that are assembled in the new Commodore, Falcon, Aurion, Corolla…. Made in China.
Well said Chris dont forget 80% of the Australian adult population didnot go to High School??.The braindead,stupid rednecks have really come out to comment on this review.
The interest in the Wingle has been to Toowoomba agfest. People are interested in place of their Toyota Hilux dual cab 2004 models. Looks slightly like the Landrover Defender in front [possibly great to avoid grass entry into the grille in offroad use?] How does one obtain a contact phone number a supplier for these vehicles??
Chris Tucker Says…………..
“Your all racist, look at the tags on the clothes you dress your children in, Made in China. Look at where the parts are from that are assembled in the new Commodore, Falcon, Aurion, Corolla…. Made in China.”
How are we all racist? We know for a fact Chinese cars are not known for reliabilty and safety thats all the same with the russian car Lada. Imagine if they made a return to Oz! SCARY! It’s just hard to take it in, thats all. By the way, also comparing cars to clothes is completely different! A car is safety and relaibilty not like clothes.
Pays yer money takes yer choice folks – Can’t say better than that. However if cheapskate employers buy these as a cheap alternative to current vehicles it could be construed as being unsafe. Safety testing results need to be indentified.
I beg to differ on the clothes Duck, I think it does need realibility lol, I expect my pants not to rip round my crotch when I bend! and people can be traumatised for life too haha!
Why arguing with these people? They keep laughing at Chinese-made cars or products, while on the other hand, being “forced” to use Chinese-made products in their homes, such as the computer and keyboard they used to post the above ridiculous comments. What a psychological loser!
chinese make crap.
Agree u can only buy made in china and it is still crap!
multi nationals decide where shit is made chasing higher profits. 20 years time EVERYTHING will be made in china!
stating the obvious makes me a racist?
50 years time we will all be speaking Chinese. Kevin was on the money learning Chinese.
Capitalist system of western countries will not be able to compete given Communist regime can treat it’s people like shit. Pretty simple really.
Chinese have the Yanks worried look at Guam as an example with all the build up pointing at China.
If u buy this shit you are supporting a regime that runs over it’s own people with tanks!
Heard of China A and China B? 200 to 300 million people living out of clints bags under horrendous conditions etc often not even paid at the end of their tenure.
…and u call me a racist u idiot!!!!!
Surely it won’t be that model pictured, that will be laughed off the streets- Why does it have NSW registration?
A sub $15k dual cab would make people stop and take notice,although anything north of that for this absurd abortion will see the whole Chinese car movement fail( which I hope happens. we have enough here as it is).
Imagine pulling up to the worksite in this POS, and parking next to new Tritons , Rangers, Hiluxes, Navaras and even a Proton Jumbuck would embarras it.
As for ANCAP, WGAF. The likelyhood of crashing is too remote to hinge such a decision soley on safety- unless you have a family.
To Realcar, you are the prime example of those China-haters in the west, who fear the rise of China and its growing influence. You fear because your once ‘superior’ feeling over China or other developing countries is being seriously challenged, because products from China and other developing countries are catching up. You can not stop the trend that China in one day will dominate the world. I reckon this car forum is your last chance to bashing Chinese products and show us your desperation. You indeed are racist.
Realcars asks people to stop buying ‘shit”. Ok, let us ask him to start the action and clean up everything made in China in his place. I bet he will eat his words, because if he really does so, he will end up with no cloth to wear, no TV to watch, no bed to sleep, no mobile phone to use, no computer to post his irrational comments. How ironic!
^Ha! I’ve got a Korean TV so I’m lucky! :)
Duck, you might be not that ‘lucky’. Your TV might be a Korean brand, but all its components are made in China and the whole TV is assembled in China. Just have a look at the label at the rear of your TV. Is it ‘MADE IN CHINA”?
If it retailed for say $14,990 with a Hyundai type warranty it will sell well. As previously stated poor crash rating is actually no worse than riding a Motorcycle.
I BET it will be no worse in quality than the series 1, 2.6 Litre TF Holden Rodeo. They were tough (mine did 480,000km) but were still generally a heap ‘o’ crap compared to the Toymota Hilux.
Hmmm, I wonder if all the components will all have that little gold sticker that reads, ‘Made in China’
Well.. Give them some time.. They only be in this business for about ten years.. We will see what later they can provide.. But i bet one day these chinese makers will somehow beat malay makers.. Malay Maker = Malaysia = Proton launched at 1985.. Few of my Malaysia friends brough the Proton Gen-2 at the same time, same dealer at same place. After two months sold them off. Told me that within two months went into service center for about 7 times thanks to the quality and finishing issues with 7 different problems including interior fitting problem, ABS stop function after about 1k trip, poor quality door handle that broken after one month. There was a news by my friend a Gen-2 burned into ashes after few day received from the dealer. Pity Malaysia to have that kind of makers in their land and forced to buy them.. (Malaysia have insane taxes for imported cars to protect Proton… Small car like Kia Rio priced at RM(Ringgit Malaysia”)80000. Currency rate US dollar 1 = RM 3.20 . Making Rio 25k US dollar WITHOUT ABS, SIDE AIRBAG, PRETENTIONERS, LOAD LIMITERS and much more equiqment.. Leaving only Driver airbag..) Pity them..
My first time i have read this section It really is wankers page why didnt you really buy the Golf Gti have you guys been to a automotive factory “ Go and look at China almost everything you use is built in China even if you dont know it you proably wear Ralph loren and check yourself in the mirror made in!!!!! tossa alert on these pages Davo