Crash-test failures of Chinese cars have delayed Ateco to introduce the first Chinese vehicle in Australia.
Ateco governing director Neville Crichton said that the first passenger cars were likely to arrive here late next year.
The highly public failure of the Jiangling LandWind and Brilliance BS6 sedan in European NCAP-style crash testing has put Chinese brands and their acceptability in established export markets; such as Europe and Australia under the spotlight.
Mr Crichton said Chinese carmakers were working on delivering a five-star car.
“Even four stars is OK, but one star is unacceptable,” he said.
The LandWind four-wheel-drive was the first vehicle to get a one-star rating from EuroNCAP.
In June, the Brilliance also got only one, but had recently been retested in Spain, where it got a three-star rating.
Despite the damaging results, Mr Crichton still believes Australians will accept Chinese cars. Ateco plans to model its Chinese line-up on its success in establishing the Kia range when it was the importer. Ateco imports Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Citroen, but wants another bread-and-butter brand.
“But we don't want to bring in any cars until they're right,” Mr Crichton said.
“Pricing will be competitive and under the prices of the South Koreans. A base-entry car has to be about $12,000.”
He said the Chinese cars would have three-year warranties, unlike Hyundai, which has an industry-leading five-year warranty. “There's no really good reason to have a five-year warranty,” he said.
Ateco has about 300 franchise applications from prospective dealers for the Chinese cars.
Ateco is bullish about expected sales, aiming for 5000 in the first year and 20,000 in three years.
To help establish the cars, it also plans ultra-competitive finance packages. Australia has about 50 passenger-car brands in a market of one million a year. Mr Crichton said new entrants would find the going tough unless they were priced and marketed properly.
But opportunity still knocked for a low-cost Chinese car, he said. Ateco is yet to confirm which brand it will bring into the country.
The company also plans to introduce low-cost light commercial Chinese trucks.
Speculation surrounds the Yuejin brand, part of Nanjing Automobile, which already has a relationship with Italian carmaker Fiat. Fiat also has a deal in place with the Chery car company.
Ateco already imports Fiat cars into Australia so a possible Chery alliance could be on the cards.
Is your life worth risking in a cheap chinese car?
