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: 
Ok so D22 Navara front, Rodeo Doors and Rodeo rear tray?? How is this aloud in Australia with our copyright laws.
How can Ateco add this to their portfolio of DESIRABLE cars.
Is it GWM’s own product (direct rip off) or is it a joint venture with Nissan/Isuzu/GM??
eithe they have bought the rights to the old model rodeo, same as how proton bought the rights to old mitsubishi lancers, and just wacked a navara front on it.. or its a very strange car to chose to copy off.. that model rodeo was never very popular…
No different than Proton selling re-badged mitsu’s for the first couple of years.
Vile.
You beat me to it, Alec. Is this the zero-star crash safety Rodeo-copy shitbox that had to be withdrawn from sale in Europe, because it folded like an alfoil can?
Is putting a Navara front end on it going to change things?
Richo, the Chinese haven’t bought the copyright to anything, as far as I know. They’ve made the VW Passat sedan there for donkeys years as the VW Santana, but that’s different.
Chery make a Daewoo Matiz rip-off that’s so close, they even copied the mistakes such as unused bolt holes etc. GM claimed they made a working Frankenstein hybrid of their Daewoo Matiz and a Chery, yet they still lost the court battle. They also claimed that the car submitted for crash testing was a cosmetically doctored Daewoo, rather than the Chery.
Scary, vile, hideous, revolting stuff.
the difference with proton Fenno is the technology/jigs/licenses were paid for.
Cant wait for the ANCAP results
How many stars is this, one?
The paint on the doors doesn’t even match!!
Hi Fenno. I think it is a bit different to that. Building stuff under licence isn’t a problem. Buying the engines, suspensions and unwanted panel dies and pressing equipment from Mitsubishi to pump out new-model Protons isn’t a problem, either, assuming something like that took place.
But Wanton Copying (ha ha, I just made a joke!!! Geddit??? WANTONS!!!) without the investment in engineering and crash safety sucks, and they’re getting away with it.
Pricing will be comparable to similar Korean models with a significantly higher specification.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Damn, I’ve just ordered a Golf GTI – I didn’t know I could get two of these high quality, high spec, modern styled items instead…..Will I always wonder if I made the right choice????
At least now all the Korean Bashers will have a new (and justifiable) target.
The more of these on the road the better it is for me!
Imagine being in a car accident with one of these things, your car would be untouched whereas these things will be crumpled up balls of twisted metal :)
“Free Funeral Plan with every purchase, Buy today and you get two Pall-bearers included! All for the low price of 14,999″
And Reckless, how much did you get that GTi for? Im tossing up for one a few months back (with sunroof and leather) and they said 55,000.
Sadly people willingly take up smoking even though it kills them. Now the same type of people will buy Chinese cars. I doubt this will rate higher than 1 star in safety. These companies are morally bankrupt enough to blatantly steal others designs, therefore I seriously doubt safety is a concern for them.
I feel sorry for the poor people who are in one of these tin cans when they crash, especially for those who willingly purchased one. A Darwin award should be named in their memory.
Seeing as how ATECO is the distributor, will these also cop their seemingly standard surchage, which puts them above the market they should be in?
Think Alfa here.
“…when the giant awakens the world will tremble”
Hate to be the dissenter here but copying styling happens all the time in the car world – perhaps not so blatantly as this but it happens.
Ok they will struggle to rate a star for crash safety, but as they get better at copying they’ll get to 5 soon enough. Put things into perspective folks : are these cars really any more dangerous than riding a motor cycle?
Today tonight will no doubt run a series of death trap stories, exporting our jobs stories, my Great Wall’s wing mirror fell off….and whip the public into an anti Chinese euphoria…
But it won’t change the fact that this is just the beginning. People want to pay less for cars. They will be bought.
Lets also not forget the fact that over history the Chinese have been one of if not the most innovative & inventive races in the world – leave Australia for dead in those stakes.
OK the ethics of jump starting your program on the back of others designs is dubious, but they will be introducing industry first innovatons before too long.
and the japanese didnt copy anything did they
and Toyota didnt get technology for thier Hybrids in a VERY dark way either, oh thats right they did eventually have to pay for that – only when teh courts told them too
Looking forward to reading the poorly worded/spelt Manual :)
“To initialise engine start ignition, rotate metallic piece hemispherical right in connector on reigns control”
I wonder if the service department will work for 20 Cents an hour?
Andy,
Your price looks like full retail for a 5door DSG with Leather, Park sensors, Sat Nav, Sunroof.
You should be able to get 8% off the price of the base car, and cut the DD from $2495 down to $1000. That will chop off nearly $5000
I can’t see why someone would buy these coffins over a good, used car. I mean there are plenty of quality useds cars out there, for less than the prices of these, that are safer and better built.
Priced right these things will sell by the shipload, notwithstanding crashworthiness or overall build quality.
Think TK Barina people.
I’ll reserve judgment until it’s been NCAP tested and reviewed by local media such as Car Advice.
Hopefully Krudd’s mob just stop these things from coming into the country altogether! Wishful thinking…
NCAP testing? What NCAP testing!!! These things don’t even rate whatsoever in crash testing! Instead of star symbols, there’ll be crossbone symbols for these buckets.
I bet half the people’s comments above are from people that drive a Taurus or a Lada. Think about the competitive market we are in, for alot of traides this looks like a great alternative to the norm. It offers (obviously from the styling, the looks of the leading Utes in Australia) and value for money. ANCAP? I dont think the target market for this type of vehicle are concerned about the type of seatbelts of curtain airbags. Peace out
Why do copyright cops raid shops and markets looking for bootleg movies and illegal music copies YET these Chinese cars are allowed to be sold here and get away with this blatant copying without prosecution????
The test results haven’t been released, have they? If not, why is everyone jumping up and down about something that hasn’t happened?
The more choice consumers have the better and if they achieve nothing other than bringing the price of other makes down to a reasonable level then bring it on. We have been so ripped off for so long re vehicle prices here more competition is a good thing.
I agree with Carl. Where is the copy protection?
New cars introduced into Australia that are cheap & nasty generally don’t sell very well. I think I read recently that Holden sold 43 Epica’s in one month.
Buyers will stay away from these cars as they will surely have plenty of warranty issues & when they pull out of Oz in 4 or 5 years because they are loosing money, people they will be stuck with a badly made car, that is worth nothing, that nobody wants.
Pablo
I bet thats exactly what Holden and Ford said about the arrival of the Japanese cars 30-40 years ago.
and again about Hyundai/Kia etc 20 years ago.
difference this time is the Chinese won’t be too proud to copy the best – so will get there on quality in no time at all.
Did anyone notice the interior, which also looks remarkeably like the current RA-series Rodeo? I know there are no interior shots here but I have seen one on another motoring website to have broken the story.
I suppose the good thing is that old Rodeo owners will be able to get a nicer looking set of tail lights after these things are written off or break down..
OH PLEASE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I recomend nobody to buy one untill we know what the ANCAP will be! At the moment I say it will be POOR. I’d never buy one! What bloody copy cats are the darn chinese! Old Navarna front and Old Rodeo side and tray. People will be confused while it’s driving down the highway and asking “Is that the old rodeo or Narvana?” “I’M CONFUSED!!!!!”.
I’d rather have a SangYong Actoyn Ute!
^Can you send us a link of the interior? So I can have a look and comment on it. Please.
If you think about it if this does get a bad repetation or ANCAP crash rating in Australia, people may be turned off to buy a older Narvana Ute or Rodeo because they look similar and some people aren’t into cars and can’t tell the minor details.
CHINESE MADE IS CRAP.
I wonder how long before the electricals fail and the headlights blow up… say 2-3 weeks?
So obviously these would have to be ADR compliant, right? Sorry I dont know what the ADR standards are?
I bet the chrome on the rear view mirrors wont last even a week and start peeling off!
^It’s probably not chrome. I’d say it is plastic.
And when Korean cars come here we were shocked, but not really now. But the Chinese, we’ll always be scared and shocked!
Marketmaker,
I know Chinese manufacturing standards are improving all the time so your point is valid.
Something about this whole process of copying car designs then making them cheaper than the original manufacturer just doesn’t feel right.
I still wouldn’t buy one…
Does anybody see the downside of this, the more cheaper cars on the market, the more people buy cars, more congestion. Also if sells all too well, god forbid the world car makers will ease of spending on innovation and design because.. hey if a car that is a copy of an old model can sell like hotcakes why should we spend so much to introduce something new, when we can just bandaid the current model and sell it cheaper whilst calling it a new car..
I think pricing in Aus is on par with the demand and road infrastructure capacity.
Our country(and culture)are slowly slipping away.If these cars take off in oz,(because of there price) it will only bring our standards down.
People seem to have no clue about safety… crumpling up aint a bad thing, cars do have crumple zones… what you dont want is the cabin area crumpling
Reckless,
Yeah, it was but without the Satnav. I simply couldnt justify it back then so got a Mondeo instead. Had it been 45ish -48 max, I would be Perth’s latest VW hoon. Couldnt forget the wheelspin I had getting out of the dealership, must’ve given the principal a heart attack.
I’m pretty sure the whole car is going to be a crumple zone including your face.
However I don’t think that Ateco is silly enough to think that these will over take the corolla or commodore in sales. So even with the measly sales that these things do achieve it’llbe enough for them to turn a profit and stay in Aust.
And as other said, tradies arn’t too concerned with safety. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t a recent Rodeo model have really poor sfety rating, and the Navara aslo have poor rating due to Airbag malfunction?
(hehe, thats exactly the two cars the ute is based on)
Pricing will be comparable to similar Korean models with a significantly higher specification.
LOL This made me laugh also.
They should be priced way under the Korean models if they want to sell them.
Remember the Excel when it first entered Australia? Cheapest car in Australia if I’m not mistaken.
The Chinese will have to start low and hope to work their way up like Hyundai/KIA after many many years.
If they price their cars at the same price as a Hyundai and a KIA and expect to sell them they are dreaming.
I don’t see a market for these cars unless they have a $10,000 to 12,000 Base model which will attract the first time car buyer and the dumb people that wont buy a better second hand car for a similar price.
With respect to the comments about potential copyright infringement:
The Copyright Act 1968 Cth only applies to:
Literary, Dramatical, Musical or Artistic, or Sound recordings, films, broadcasts and published editions.
So yeah, there’s nothing in there that would prevent the imitation of cars.
I think the one consolation of this particular brand selling in Australia is that the types of cars they are selling are inherently safer (4×4 or SUV etc) because they are bigger overall. It takes much more technology to make a safe small car (think smart car) than it would be for a safe large car.
Yay, it looks like some one cross bred the previous generation Rodeo with a D22 Navara… I bet it is nowhere near as reliable as the Japanese stuff.
Just think of the worst gut wrenching, vomit inducing chinese take-away you have ever had and then put yourself in one of these…..
I will give the car a try. I will wait for the crash test result and test drive the car by myself before making any rational comments. I believe real experience is more accurate than perception.
Shame on anyone who buys one of these POS cars. Im going to carry a dozen eggs everywhere i go. As soon as i see one of these, owner beware!
Nobody liked my Wanton joke. Sob. Tissues, please.
I actually think that Nissan are still making the navara with those headlights as it has just been updated.
Also in Townsville you can pick up a Brand new Mahindra Pick up from the car dealer about 1k down from ford and holden. So Chinese cars have already made it to our market ( Sadly)
I saw one of these pick ups on the road the other day and i have to say it already looks 20 or 30 years old with all the wierd body panels and dated looks.
^^^ OOps my bad they are actually made in india but geez doesnt change the fact they are ugly. lol
When comes to shopping, you don’t always have a choice. If the girls get pregnant for 4000 dollars baby bonus, do they really have any choice?
Anything will sell, but to different group of people.
Anyway the Chinese cars will not be that bad at all. And they will improve FAST! It is better than Aussie. Which brand is truely Aussie?? Holden is bloody Opel for god’s sake and cheap Dawoo failing the market test already!
90% people died because of drink driving or fatigue or speeding if you watch Serious Crash Unit. They kill themselves, not the cars kill them.
@ $15k it will sell well, $20k is to much, the Japanese can lower prices if need be.They lowered the price of the Echo when Hyundai started to shift heaps of Accents.
ATECO know how to sell, its game on, will bring the RRP of the others down, thats the best thing about competition.
It will be better quality than the Mahindra but not the level of the Japanese, lets wait and see, its all about features and price.
Cheers
F-0
I agree they may poor quality now but give the Chinese manufacturers a few years and they will turn out comparable stuff.
Take a walk around your house and count how mnay items are now made in China. A few years ago, even Japanese made stuff was not up to par, then it was the Koreans etc. Look at the components for computers, look at household products and white goods. Sure, a lot of them are manufactured and re-badged but the technology exists to build good quality, not state of the art but priced accordingly.
I would not buy the first generation cars but give them time and they will improve. The Hyundai is a celar example of the improvements from being cheap and cheerful to good quality