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BYD says the "seismic shift" occurring in Australia will result in big brand "fallout", as a wave of new Chinese brands combines with tightening emissions to squeeze household name car makers.
That's the word from BYD Australia's COO Stephen Collins, who describes the changes taking place in our new-car market as "unprecedented".
"It's tough," he says. "I'm obviously not going to speak for individual brands, but I think for certain brands, it's going to be really, really tough.
"If you look at the market over probably 20 years, it grows by one, or maybe two per cent each year. Or it dips by one or two. So it's very mature, it's very consistent.
"And I think that some of the legacy brands that aren't so competitive on product and tech and value, I think they're going to find it difficult.
"Now, whether that's having to resize their business or whatever, that's up to them. But I feel that it's a seismic shift, really, what's happening. And what happens with unprecedented shifts is that some brands have to re-evaluate what they offer and how big they are, or how small they are, or what business model they adopt, or whatever it may be.
Not only are new Chinese brands generally very cost competitive, they're also heavily invested in new-energy technology, putting them in a strong position when it comes to the ever-tightening New Vehicle Emission Standard regulations.
"(NVES) is another huge factor as well. It is a seismic shift. And when these things happen, in my experience, there is sometimes fallout," Mr Collins says.
BYD has sold in excess of 40,000 vehicles here to the end of October. It is one of three Chinese brands now cemented inside our top 10, with GWM shifting 43,774 units, and MG selling 36,176 vehicles over the first 10 months of the year.
Mr Collins says the increased competition is a win for Australian car buyers.
"In the end, the way I look at it is that I reckon it's good for consumers. It makes every OEM push harder, do better, be faster," Mr Collins says.
