Deepal News

China sells nearly double the entire yearly Australian new car market in just one month

China’s latest ‘ute’ cleared for sale in Australia. Newcomer Deepal is entering the great Aussie ute wars, but its entrant is unlike anything on the road.

Yet another premium Chinese brand could be headed to Australia, as the Avatr 11 launches in right-hand drive guise at the Hong Kong motor show.Avatr is the premium electric vehicle arm of Changan which also includes Deepal in its corporate umbrella. The new brand claims to “blend Chinese innovation and European design”.Deepal also made its debut in Hong Kong at the show, but it is already imported to Australia in right-hand drive via the same importer as Subaru and Peugeot, Inchcape.It is not the first time Avatr models have launched in right-hand drive. The is brand already in Thailand where Changan is establishing a manufacturing presence to be a larger domestic player alongside fellow Chinese carmaker, GWM.Like its Deepal cousins, the Avatr 11 is an unusual crossover-style shape, which has an unconventional rear boot aperture and rear deck feature. While it has the ride height of an SUV, its body style is closer to that of a four-door GT car.Electric versions come in rear-wheel drive powered by a 230kW/370Nm motor or an all-wheel drive producing 402kW/687Nm which. They're offered with two battery capacities on an 800-volt architecture, either a 90.38kWh Standard Range with 575km driving range (on the more lenient NEDC measure), or a 116.79kWh Long Range offering 680km of driving range on a single charge.Its 0-100km/h time is 6.6 seconds for the Standard Range, or 6.9 seconds for the long range.Interestingly, there is also now a range-extender hybrid version, which pairs a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine (115kW) with the base RWD motor.It is equipped with a 39.05kWh battery pack good for up to 225km of EV range (according to Chinese specifications). So far only the fully electric version in rear-wheel drive has been sold in right-hand drive format in Thailand. The all-wheel drive and range-extender variants are still left-hand drive, primarily for the Chinese market.The interior features luxurious trims and a tri-screen layout, consisting of a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a massive 15.6-inch central multimedia touchscreen, and a second 10.25-inch screen for the passenger.The Avatr 11 is not cheap in Thailand, with the base rear-drive version starting from the equivalent of A$100,000, however left-hand-drive Chinese versions start from the equivalent of A$62,500.If it were to land in Australia, you could expect the brand to split the difference, landing at least 15 to 20 per cent more than the Chinese version, but below the Thai version. Other models in the brand’s range yet to be seen in right-hand-drive form include the Avatr 06 sports sedan, Avatr 07 mid-size SUV, and Avatr 12 Grand Tourer.Currently the only Deepal model sold in Australia is the S07 crossover SUV in a single variant, equipped with a 160kW rear-mounted electric motor and 475km of driving range. It costs $53,900, but despite a keen price-tag is struggling to make an impact on the increasingly competitive affordable electric SUV space.The brand has managed to register just 67 units so far this year, well behind its closest rivals, the Geely EX5 (1023 units) and Leapmotor C10 (249 units), although the brand has plans to rapidly follow-up with the S05 small SUV, E07 ute/SUV hybrid, and potentially the range-extender hybrid and off-road-focused G318.The company and its importer have yet to comment on the idea of Avatr launching in Australia, but globally executives have made no secret of its plans to expand, starting with Asia Pacific.

Geely is latest to issue warning about the unsustainable state of global car market joining GWM and even the Chinese government in concerns about price-cuts and oversupply.

Whoever said ‘you can never have too much choice’ clearly never saw the Australian new car market in 2025. The country is being inundated with not only new models, but seemingly new brands every month.In 2025 alone we’ve had the introduction of Cadillac, Deepal, Geely, GMC, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, Omoda and Xpeng to our roads. These join other relatively new arrivals which include (but aren’t limited to) BYD, Chery, Chevrolet, Cupra, JAC and Zeekr, with more reportedly on the way.While competition is great, and certainly there are many very likeable cars from most of these brands, I’m starting to feel like we’ve reached breaking point in Australia. We buy just over one million new cars each year, and that number won’t rise sharply anytime soon, so each new brand only splits the market into even smaller pieces.When you factor in Toyota accounts for around 20 per cent of the market each year, and that too doesn’t look like changing anytime soon, then you have nearly 70 brands fighting over 80 per cent of what’s left. While there’s certainly some major positives to this booming industry, namely the increased competition, especially the brands from China, have slowed down the dramatic price rises we’ve seen post-pandemic. The market was already headed that way before 2020, with many brands working out it makes better financial sense to sell fewer cars but at a higher profit than it does to sell lots of cars for less margin. Without question, a major factor in the growth of Chinese cars in Australia is thanks to the highly competitive pricing strategy brands like MG, GWM, BYD and others have engaged in.These new brands do give choice, but the downside of so much choice is it makes it harder for you, the new car customer, to know what to buy. Obviously we do our best here at CarsGuide to keep you informed, but frankly there are so many new brands - both those with history and reputation and those without - that buying is simply getting more and more complicated.One of the biggest challenges with new brands, as in brands with no history in developed car markets, is that a new model that seems solid and good value now may age terribly and give you no-end of problems. Or, alternatively, it could be great and problem-free - but it’s an expensive gamble to find out.But the cold, hard fact remains, the new car market is only so big and unless all brands not named Toyota prepare for a smaller market share, then not all will survive in all likelihood. In recent years Holden has gone, so too has Chrysler and Citroen, and there are seemingly several more hanging on with shrinking sales numbers. That will almost certainly leave customers facing an uncertain future for parts, servicing, etc, not to mention it will likely tank resale value. So, yes, choice is great, but too much choice can ultimately make life harder for everyone involved. Because at what point do we stop - 80 brands? 100? It may sound silly but at the rate some of these newer brands are multiplying with spin-offs and sister-brands, there appears to be no end in sight - and that’s not necessarily good news…

It’s EOFY time again!

There are more and more Chinese car brands entering the Australian new car market seemingly every day.

Six months ago the heavens were falling as a wave of new Chinese brands approached our shores, with some predicting mass casualties of legacy carmakers.Most of these new brands have arrived, including Deepal, Geely, Jac, XPeng and Zeekr, but have they wreaked the havoc that was predicted?The answer is no. After several months on sale the initial take up has been modest at best.Geely has sold about 500 of its cut-price EX5 electric mid-size SUV, which is a good start but not a knock-out blow to anyone.Jac has had trouble getting its T9 ute on the ground in Australia, but its 650 sales this year aren’t worrying Ford or Toyota.Deepal and XPeng don’t report sales figures yet, but anecdotal evidence suggests they haven’t hit critical mass.Zeekr has moved around 270 examples of its X small electric SUV and luxurious 009 people mover combined.It turns out that just because you are new and from China doesn’t mean you have a cheat code to success in Australia, as some may have thought.As with every other new brand, it will take time and resources to build up a strong following.Take a look at BYD, Chery, GWM and MG. These brands have had to grind it out over years to get a toehold in the local market.GWM and MG have since turned that toehold into a sizeable chunk of market share, like a wily pub veteran pushing elbows out at the bar to settle in, with both now established top 10 selling brands Down Under.It was a similar story for many of these brands that are now awash with sales.Chery launched with its Omoda 5 small SUV and said it would sell 10,000 in the first year … it did not come close.Fast forward a few years and Chery’s beefed-up line-up has accounted for more than 8000 sales through the first four months of this year and is on target to sell more than 20,000 vehicles in 2025. The cut-price Tiggo 4 small SUV leads the charge.BYD has sold more than 11,000 cars through to the start of May this year, but when it first arrived its Atto 3 sold just OK. Its sales really turbocharged years later after it brought in its line-up of plug-in hybrids such as the Sealion 6 SUV, Shark 6 dual-cab ute and the mid-size Sealion 7 electric SUV.Sales of the Sealion 6 and Shark 6 may fall back to earth now that tax incentives for plug-in hybrids have ended.In April, the BYD Sealion 7 electric SUV displaced the Tesla Model Y as the bestselling EV that month, which is only the second time since August 2022 a Tesla hasn’t been the bestselling electric car in a month.The MG ZS and GWM Haval Jolion are the second- and third-bestselling small SUVs, eclipsing rivals such as the Toyota Corolla Cross, Kia Seltos and Mitsubishi ASX.A few more car brands are on the cusp of launching with GAC and Skywell committed to landing here, but as recent history has shown, it’ll be a tough slog to carve out a slice of the Aussie market.But what about the effect on other brands?The only new car brand gone from the local market recently is Citroën, which was on a steep decline long before we knew any of these newcomers existed. Stellantis and its herd of car brands, such as Jeep and Alfa Romeo, look a little unsteady on their feet here, but this is not the result of new Chinese brands.The big boys of the Australian car industry are still doing well.Toyota’s market share has grown this year, compared to the first four months of 2024, as has Mazda, Hyundai and Kia’s. Ford’s is effectively even, too.So your favourite car brand might be around for longer than was predicted not so long ago.

There are signs Chinese brand Deepal is gearing up for a major new model onslaught.

Mazda’s electric car range is about to be hit with a power surge.