2025 Gac M8 Reviews

2025 was certainly the year of the new car brand coming to Australia.

The new-generation Toyota HiLux is among five models that have just learned their safety fate.

Another budget-friendly mid-size SUV has just been unveiled in China.

GAC is just the latest in a long list of new car brands from China trying to make a mark in Australia. But while it may be late to the party, it has arrived in style, with the all-new Emzoom small SUV proving to be a surprising performer. We review this new small SUV to see how it stacks up against the growing list of competitors.

The list of all-electric SUV options for a reasonable price has grown with the arrival of the all-new GAC Aion V Luxury.

The GAC Aion V Premium is the latest mid-size electric SUV to enter the market. The Chinese brand is going head-to-head with the likes of the Geely EX5 and BYD Atto 3 with this small SUV.

One newcomer Chinese brand is planning a multi-model takeover of Australia's new car market, leaning on its global partnership with Toyota to launch into 10 vehicles segments over the next five years.

GAC, otherwise known as the Guangzhou Automobile Group, is the latest in a seemingly endless armada of new car brands arriving in Australia from China. So what will make it stand out from the crowd? We drive its new Aion V electric SUV to see if it can make an impact on the Australian market, or will it just be another new arrival quickly forgotten.

New-to-Australia brand GAC, which has operated in China since the 1990s, has launched with a pricing tactic contradictory to many Chinese brands Down Under.Speaking to CarsGuide ahead of the launch, Deputy General Manager of GAC Australia Cheney Liang said the brand won’t chase low prices to attract customers.The thinking behind it is that GAC believes it has a product not directly comparable to rivals, and lowering its sticker prices would devalue what it believes to be higher-quality cars.“We are not chasing the same outright, aggressive pricing strategy as has been seen in the market recently, as we feel this undermines the quality and level of innovation,” Liang told CarsGuide.One of the key reasons GAC won’t be dropping pricing to the floor, Liang said, is that the brand has worked closely with Toyota and Honda in China for the last two decades, meaning it has learned plenty from the legacy Japanese brands.“In terms of our existing manufacturing facility, we have had exceptional partnership with Toyota and Honda to build and manufacture their vehicles for the domestic market. “We have learned a lot from them, and we believe that the customer will have a different experience by driving GAC.”The other main reason, Liang says, is GAC has already tested and tuned its three key offerings for Australia.“When we picked the models, we came to Australia. We have, we have already done the Australian test,” Liang confirmed.“All the models have already been sent to Australia one year ago to do the road test, and we got some feedback after finishing the test."The Aion V mid-size electric SUV, the M8 plug-in hybrid people mover, and the Emzoom compact SUV will all arrive with Australian-specific tuning.“What we believe is the vehicle price and value, always depends on what the customers need."“GAC would not always be the cheapest one, even in other countries, but most of the customers who have owned a GAC… they were impressed by the quality of GAC. “We hope that our price will match the value that we can bring to the customer.”The GAC Aion V, which should be a big-volume car for the brand, starts from $42,590 before on-roads, while the Emzoom small SUV kicks off from $25,590.The M8 plug-in is pricier at $76,590, but also more feature-packed.GAC M8While pricing for the Emzoom isn’t the lowest for its class, the Aion V’s starting price puts it very low for an electric mid-size SUV. It sits with the Geely EX5 ($40,990) and smaller BYD Atto3 ($44,990) for pricing.But don’t bring that up with GAC, as before pricing was confirmed Liang specifically said the aim wasn’t to battle other brands on price.“We don't want directly compared with other brands. What we want is, we hope, the customer to feel that the value and the price are equal.”All three of GAC’s models are available to order now.

New Chinese brand GAC says it has a secret weapon to crack the competitive Australian market, saying it has learnt from Toyota and will launch with vehicle quality that matches that of the Japanese giant.