Move aside Zeekr: Australia's newest Chinese brand Dreame to shake-up our auto industry as it says it's more unique than BYD and Tesla

Australia's newest Chinese car brand Dreame says it will push back against the commoditisation of electric vehicles it says has befallen Tesla and BYD, saying its AI-driven products' late arrival to market will work in its favour.

And that includes the way the vehicles are sold, with the brand exploring using an existing retail network, like Harvey Norman, as its showroom footprint.

But first, what is Dreame? Founded in 2017, Dreame is now a giant of China's smart gadget and household electronics industry. The company is probably best known in Australia for its robotic vacuum cleaners, but it produces everything from drones to televisions, hairdryers and smart phones.

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And now it is turning its attention to cars, though it concedes it's late to the party. It has currently unveiled its supercar-chasing Nebula Concept range - carbon-fibre electric monsters with quad motors, 1400kW and a sprint to 100km/h in 1.8 seconds.

But first to arrive in Australia (in concept form likely this year ahead of a launch in 2027) will be a mid-size SUV that will take aim at models like the BYD Sealion 7 and Tesla Model Y.

"You see the products today, from BYD, from Tesla, from all the major brands, are getting commoditised," says Dreame Chief Marketing Officer, Mr Ma.

"So everyone's trying to get bigger, trying to squeeze more screens, more battery power inside the car. And that's why, like I said, as a latecomer, we're not trying to compete on commoditised products.

"That's why one of the biggest competitive propositions for us is the ecosystem."

Dreame Nebula Next concept

The ecosystem Mr Ma refers to is the company's eagerness to embrace AI and connected services to link their vehicles with an owner's other appliances, using machine learning to adapt to schedules. An example given was, if a customer tends to arrive home at 6pm, the vehicle would activate household appliances – like a robotic vacuum cleaner – to ensure the house is clean on their arrival.

Mr Ma likened the AI boom to the shift to electrification in terms of the impact it will have on the automotive market, both in China and abroad.

"It's getting crowded with Chinese brands. We definitely know that. And I think in our opinion we are already a late-comer to this industry," he says,

"What we're offering is actually a package of products. So the value proposition for us is more about connectivity with the rest of our products together. Dreame as an ecosystem instead of just purely vehicles.

"That's one of the visions we have, to bring every aspect of technology to our vehicles. And because of that vision, we also see an opportunity, because AI is going to change everything.

Dreame Nebula Next concept

"Let's turn the clock back to 10 years ago. We were thinking that there's no way for BYD or Tesla or some of the newer Chinese brands to have a market share in China. Because domestic brands or foreign brands like Mercedes, Audi, they're already dominating the market. But (then) there's a shift from gasoline to electric vehicles. That creates the window of opportunity for new players.

"Right now we're standing at a time where AI is creating a new time window for newer players. So that's why I think our vision, and also the window of opportunity, make it essential for us to come into the market."

For the cars themselves, that remains something of a mystery. We know a mid-size SUV is coming, and a small SUV and passenger vehicle are also likely. They will be targeting mainstream players like Tesla, BYD, Toyota and Mazda, and will be all-electric, at least to start.

Dreame is also confident its own solid-state battery technology, which it says will unlock a 1000km driving range, will also be ready for mass-production in 2027, though is more likely to appear in the Nebula range first.

The design sounds promising, too, with words like "timeless" rather than busy used, and a focus on making products that visually age well.

Dreame Nebula Next concept

"We want to have something a bit dynamic. We don't want an electric car which is like a fridge or a laptop or something like that. We want to give it something special. It won't be ultra-cheap, it won't be ultra-high, it'll be accessible for everyone," says John Warner, Dreame Chief Designer.

Also unique could be Dreame's distribution method, with the brand all but ruling out a direct-to-consumer model and instead exploring the idea of selling through Australia's existing electronics retail footprint, including stores like Harvey Norman and The Good Guys.

"What we've done in our core business has been extraordinary. In Australia right now we have 700 distribution points for everything from floor care through to smart home and beauty," says James Moore, Dreame's country manager for Australia and New Zealand.

"We're not afraid of going left-field. There's no harm in looking at those opportunities. I'd say watch this space."

There are hurdles, too. Dreame doesn't currently have an automotive manufacturing facility in China, largely because of government restrictions on production put in place to counter a glut in manufacturing capacity. The brand says it is working on it, as well as exploring options in the Middle East and Europe.

Dreame Nebula Next concept

Those restrictions put Dreame in an interesting spot, with the brand suggesting Australia and New Zealand could be the first countries on the planet to receive its vehicles, ahead of even a domestic launch in China.