Revealed: The biggest threat to the big name car brands like Hyundai, Toyota, Mazda and more

The days of being a ‘Holden family’ and buying a new model from the same brand each year are gone.

The increasing fragmentation of the Australian car market, as well as the on-going cost-of-living crisis is driving new car buyers to ditch brand loyalty in favour of whatever suits them best.

It’s why some of Australia’s most beloved brands are enduring a difficult 2026, with the latest new car sales data showing Toyota, Mazda, Ford, Kia and Hyundai all suffering sales decline as the likes of BYD, GWM, Chery and other relative-newcomers lure buyers away.

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“Yeah, I think that's one of the biggest things right now,” Donaldson said.

“Right now I think there's so much choice there for customers that they have the ability to pick and choose whatever it is. It's just competitive, the amount of brands that are in there now. The market size has also [only] slightly grown.

"Like it's [on course for] 1.2 [million total market sales] this year. It's 1.15m, 1.2m, historically grown on the back of immigration more than anything. It's just so competitive at present time. And as we say, customers now have such a wide diversification of choice that it's difficult to get their attention.”

Looking at the car sales data year-to-date to the end of August, Toyota is down 17%, Mazda down 15.9% and Ford 14.5%, while BYD is up more than 100%, Chery is up 64.3% and GWM has grown 15.%. It’s clear from these figures that despite the historical success of the likes of Toyota, Mazda, Ford and the other ‘legacy’ brands, the newer Chinese rivals are winning over customers.

In that context, Hyundai’s drop of 2.0 per cent can be seen a relatively positive result, with Donaldson admitting brands will need to adjust to selling less volume. But he also doubled down on the idea that after-sales support, specifically the dealer and servicing experience will be the true test for longevity for both the legacy bands and the newcomers.

“ There's no doubt the legacy brands are under pressure,” Donaldson admitted.

“Most of them are losing share year on year. Does that mean you reset your future levels of share? I don't know. Because it comes down to, I've always said… it comes down to your product portfolio. You can launch cars that the Australian public might see as outstanding and rush to your brand. So for us it's about maintaining a certain level of scale, make sure our dealers are as profitable as they can be, which is also under pressure because of multi-franchising and all that at present time. It's just extremely competitive and I think customers have got great choice. But I think long-term, you've got to be able to provide the overall customer experience to ensure not only selling the car, but there's the long-term servicing as part as well.”

“ The industry will be recalibrating,” Kuhn said.

“I think this year it has just started, but I think we have ahead of us another three years at least, maybe three up to five. We'll see when the entire industry will be, let's say, looking for its new normal. Seventy competitors in the market, yeah, it's a lot. And I think every brand will try to find not only its new normal, but find its new viable normal. And viable normal for all the stakeholders, because this is the most complex thing.

"It’s not just OEMs, [it’s] importer, dealers, and still being competitive and attractive enough to the customer. This is what is ahead all of us, and it doesn't matter if it's a legacy brand, but it's also the Chinese entrants, they will have the same thing. Because running like that, it's simply a penetration strategy. It will end up somewhere… and then what?”

But Kuhn believes that elements such as the actual driving experience, which is still seen as an advantage for the more experienced legacy brands, will remain a key selling point from Skoda and its like.

“To actually meet the expectations of the customers… they expect a level of driving refinement,” she said.

But Kuhn, like Donaldson, is resigned to the fact that the days of families being loyal to one car brand for their entire motoring life.

“Customers don’t stick to the brands they used to… all their life,” she said.