If there has been a single story that has come out of the automotive world over the past five years, it has been the rise of China.
The manufacturing powerhouse’s swift climb up the global sales charts has been nothing short of remarkable, sending legacy car brands into crisis mode and causing a media frenzy in the process.
So, would you believe that sales of Chinese-made cars in Australia, the third most common country of origin for local vehicles, are actually down?
Well, if you look at the combined data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Electric Vehicle Council, that is exactly the case.
As of the end of November this year, vehicle sales from China fell two per cent compared to this time last year, from 178,432 deliveries to 174,784.
Even more surprisingly, vehicle sales from Germany, Italy and France were up slightly, despite serious concerns over the futures of some European brands.

Imports flatlining from China can largely be attested to Tesla’s lacklustre year in 2024, in which it delivered 9154 less vehicles from its Shanghai Gigafactory to Australia compared to November the previous year.
Sales from Australia’s seventh-best-selling car brand, MG, are also down considerably; 15 per cent to be exact, from 54,512 deliveries to 46,374 this year to date.
LDV is another loser for 2024, with sales down 24.1 per cent from 19,675 sales this time last year to 14,935.

Despite big gains from Chery and BYD, with sales up 107.7 per cent and 68.2 per cent, respectively, China hasn’t been able to turn the tide, which suggests imports may finally be correcting after five years of huge sales.
However, there are plenty more Chinese brands arriving in 2025, along with steady product pipelines from BYD, MG and LDV, as well as western brands that build EVs in China like Kia and Tesla, which could see sales bounce back.
Western automakers are still showing plenty of fight, though, with Japan increasing its sales hegemony in Australia by 9.8 per cent. This is thanks to Japanese makers finally clearing the supply crunch that held them back over the past few years, which opened the door to new Chinese brands with a free-flowing supply of new vehicles to grow sales.

It comes off the back of Toyota’s strong year, led by its ever-popular RAV4 and HiLux models, as well as strong sales from Mitsubishi and Nissan.
An honourable mention also goes to Thailand, who remains the key beneficiary of Australia’s ute-loving culture as our second most popular country of origin for cars.
Sales are up 5.0 per cent from Thailand, which builds our most popular vehicle, the Ford Ranger – and practically every other ute.
