Jaecoo News

It ultimately helped end Holden, and the same can happen with an alarmingly high number of other prominent car brands.We’re talking about the over-reliance on one single model in Australia.It is the ‘eggs all in one basket’ that leaves sales and financials vulnerable when the inevitable happens – a popular model starts to run out of steam with consumers.Factors include newer competition, ageing models and external outside forces like spiking oil prices and evolving buyer tastes.Here, then, are some of Australia’s most vulnerable brands due to the over-dependence on one model line.Geely’s ‘Gen-Z geek’ sub-brand has struck a chord with Australians thanks to the strikingly styled 7X, and deservedly so.However, did you know there are two other, older Zeekr models sitting beside it on the showroom floor? A smaller SUV known as the X and a large people mover badged 009.Combined, they make up just 6.4 per cent of Zeekr’s year-to-date (YTD) sales, while the 7X takes the lion’s share at an incredible 93.4 per cent. Let’s hope the latter keeps the momentum up.Tesla’s Model 3 may have opened the floodgates for electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia since arriving in mid 2019, but it has now been subsumed by the larger SUV offshoot, the Model Y.The YTD sales data tells the story, with the 3’s sales tumbling 18.4 per cent to 3326 units, while the Y’s tally – supercharged by the new three-row L version – has now breached the 25,000 mark.That puts the hunchbacked SUV at 88.3 per cent of total Tesla sales, with the sedan taking the remaining 11.7 per cent.But with no S, X or ute to provide support, the Model Y is vulnerable against an unrelenting tide of mid-sized EV SUV alternatives, like the Zeekr 7X.From nowhere, the cheapest Jaecoo from Chery’s Land Rover-aping sub-brand, the J5, is responsible for more than two-thirds of all volume.This leaves three other models, the J7, J8 and Omoda 9, to fight over the crumbs.Isuzu hasn’t developed its own passenger car since the early 1990s, electing to concentrate on utes and trucks instead.The D-Max is responsible for 63 per cent of all Isuzu Ute sales YTD. It sits fourth after the Ranger, HiLux and Shark 6 on the charts.The other 37 per cent belongs to the M-UX SUV version of the ute, and that currently occupies third place amongst large SUVs behind the Ford Everest and Prado.This country sure loves a body-on-frame three-row wagon.But both Isuzus are diesel-only powered, meaning that, with no hybrid or EV in sight for Australia, Isuzu Ute faces steep fines due to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) carbon tax.And that’s just going to increase annually in severity, which will really hurt Isuzu Ute, unless it pulls something out of the hat, and fast.Australia’s top-selling vehicle since 2023, the Ranger is responsible for some 62.3 per cent of Ford’s total volume YTD.Combined with its Everest SUV offshoot, that jumps to a staggering 88.7 per cent. Given there are seven other distinct models squabbling over the remaining 11.3 per cent, that's a worry.The next most popular Ford YTD is the Transit Custom van at just three per cent, followed by the Mustang at 2.8 per cent, F-150 at 2.45 per cent, Transit Cargo at 1.9 per cent, Tourneo people mover at 0.5 per cent and Mustang Mach-E at 0.33 per cent.But storm clouds are in the air for the Blue Oval’s popular ute-based duo, with both Ranger and Everest sales down this year, thanks to fierce competition from new rivals including the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).While a Ranger PHEV does exist, it costs too much and delivers too little by comparison, meaning the vast majority of volume belongs to the diesel versions.That’s a lot of NVES fines Ford is facing, unless the incoming Bronco PHEV SUV and other future EVs grow the brand's share of the total market without cannibalising Ranger and Everest.With demand for the latest Vitara tanking, the Swift hybrid struggling and the Fronx floundering, it’s been the Jimny small 4WD that has kept Suzuki humming along, accounting for 56.6 per cent of all volume YTD.Likewise, the Defender attracts the most business for Land Rover in Australia, taking 54.1 per cent of all orders YTD.The Haval Jolion small SUV has performed the heavy lifting for GWM YTD, at 53.9 per cent of total sales, as has the X-Trail for Nissan, at 53 per cent.Australia’s continuous number one since 2003, Toyota boasts several high-volume models, including the RAV4, Prado, Corolla, HiAce, Camry and Yaris Cross.Yet even the brand’s most popular vehicle – the HiLux – only makes up 23.6 per cent of the company’s total sales YTD.Similarly, BYD’s top performer, the Sealion 7, is at 25 per cent, Kia’s biggest crowd-pleaser, the Sportage, is at 23.1 per cent and this country’s favourite Mazda, the CX-5, is at 26.4 per cent.The smaller the percentage, the higher the chances are your brand will weather any storm. Sadly, the writing was on the wall long before Australia's Own started to see its sales slide.Holden’s downfall is largely down to its over-reliance on one model. It was always the way, right back even before the Kingswood years.Here's the most telling stat. Australia’s best-seller for 15 years in a row from 1996 until 2011, sales of the Commodore crashed to just 50 position in 2019.That was following the disaster that was replacing the rear-drive VF series made in Australia with the smaller, front-wheel drive-based Opel Insignia out of Germany as the ZB series. This happened as a result of Holden’s manufacturing shutdown in 2017.The latter bombed so hard that it was cancelled in December of 2019, with Holden effectively over by the following February.

Australia's top 10 sales list looks very different when automotive groups are counted together, with Hyundai and Kia rocketing up the charts and Chinese companies taking out four places in total.While vehicles might wear different names, often they are owned by the same company, such as the Volkswagen Group with VW, Skoda, Cupra, Audi and more, Toyota with Toyota and Lexuz, or Geely with Geely, Zeekr, Polestar and Lotus.Counted as groups with a single corporate owner rather than as individual brands –which, it must be pointed out, is not how Australia's official body counts sales, making this more an experiment than anything else – and the sales results look very different.At the close of July, for example, Toyota led the YTD sales charts with a total 115,550 sales. BYD nabbed second spot, with 60,192 sales, followed by Ford, Kia and Mazda, with 48,696, 48,399 and 46,960 sales. Hyundai, GWM, Chery, Tesla and Mitsubishi round out the top 10.But counting group totals rather than individual brands paints a very different picture. Toyota and Lexus still comfortably hold top spot, with 122,902 sales, but it's the Hyundai Group (Hyundai and Kia) which take second spot, with a combined 94,113. Next comes the BYD Group (BYD and Denza) with 62,885. Ford and Mazda hold onto spots four and five, even as individual players.It's spot six through 10 where things get interesting, with the Chery Group (Chery, Omoda Jaecoo) storming into spot number six with 40,522 sales. GWM remains in spot seven, while the Geely Group arrives in the top 10 with 28,089 total sales. Mitsubishi and MG (the fifth Chinese brand/group inside this new top 10) fill spots eight and nine.For Chery, the July result was enough to elevate the group to spot number four for the month – a result which did not go unnoticed at HQ."Becoming the fourth largest automotive group in Australia is a significant achievement and demonstrates how strongly Australian consumers have embraced both Chery and Omoda Jaecoo," said Lewis Lu, CEO of Chery Motor Australia.   

Chery’s comeback from zero to hero in Australia is truly remarkable, but what has been the secret to its second-time lucky success?  Did Chery stumble onto a genie’s lamp while it was lost in the wilderness and wish for sales success? Because somewhere between 2015 and 2026 the car company, which left Australia with a reputation for low-quality, unsafe vehicles, returned a decade later with a line-up of outstanding cars that have won over Australia.Australian sales until the end of July show Chery to be the eighth best-selling car brand in Australia, with 29,579 vehicles sold. The Tiggo 4 small SUV was the fifth most popular car in Australia last month.This means Chery has overtaken mainstream brands such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Honda and Subaru. It is even starting to creep into the Mazda (currently on 46,960), Hyundai (45,581) and Kia (48,399) bracket.Chery will get even closer to these brands, as they are losing sales and Chery’s market share is increasing. And its ute hasn’t even arrived.When the Chery Stockman arrives it won’t just be another ute, it’ll likely have the same success as BYD’s Shark 6 because it’ll offer the benefit of being a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The edge the Stockman will have over the Shark 6 is it’ll be a diesel PHEV, not a petrol, which will make it popular for off-road use and towing. The addition of Stockman will increase Chery’s sales by at least 1000 per month. Whether it catches Hyundai, Kia and Mazda before the end of the year is yet to be seen, but Chery has come from a lot further back.This time last year Chery had sold only 17,272 cars, and the current year-to-date sales represent a doubling in market share to 4.2 per cent.Toyota is the final boss of the Australian car market and its year-to-date sales of 115,550 make everybody else’s results seem minuscule, even BYD that has reached 60,192. Chery is probably not gunning for the top spot right now, unless that was specifically wished for when it found the magic lamp.For Chery to even reach where it is today in the three years since it returned to Australia in 2023, with one car and no sales in almost a decade seems nothing short of magical.The truth is Chery’s stellar comeback is down to five factors: elevating quality perception through design but keeping retail pricing low; hiring outside automotive designers and engineers from European, United States and Korean car companies; investing big in next-gen electric and hybrid platforms, and mostly important and the reason for all of this - focussing on exports.That’s it! Oh, and just add excellent timing and money, lots of money.The importance of Chery’s export focus can’t be overstated. Exports bankroll the business. Not a lot of profit is made in Chery’s local Chinese market, while bigger than our Australian brains can comprehend, it’s so cut-throat that vehicle manufacturers are struggling to make a decent profit. So ruthless was the price war that in February this year the Chinese government banned car makers from selling below production cost, which they had been doing just to compete with each other. The stomach was eating itself.Chery realised this and put most of its energy into exports and this meant lifting the quality to a standard oversea markets had become accustomed to set by Japanese car makers such as Toyota, Honda and Mazda.This meant hiring designers and engineers from outside China, senior executives from European, Korean, Japanese and American car companies    Steve Eum, Korean born but raised in the United States, is now Chery’s Vice President and General Manager of Global Design having worked for Kia, Hyundai, General Motors and even Ford where he was based in Australia and worked on the Falcon.Eum succeeded Kevin Rice, who had worked on the MX-5 and helped develop the BMW 3 Series and 4 Series.Keeping that premium feel but pricing the vehicles to be among the most affordable vehicles offered in a market is guaranteed to be a sales winning combination anywhere, especially in Australia.Chery’s been smart enough to add sub-brands such as Jaecoo, Omoda and Lepas, which bring more luxury, sportiness and premium electric choices. The Jaecoo J5 for instance is often mistaken for a Range Rover when spotted on the road. That the hybrid and electric technology is outstanding, was also important. Chery’s super hybrids such as the Tiggo 9 and Tiggo 8 are incredibly fuel efficient.   Chery’s timing of having a wide range of affordable electric and hybrid vehicles at precisely the same time as Australian buyers were switching to EVs in record numbers was also key. The fuel crises caused by the war in Iran pushed EV sales to more than 23 per cent of all new cars sold in June and continued through July when it was above 21 per cent.In July 2026 Chery became the first Chinese car maker to surpass 20 million global sales. Sales in Europe for Chery were up by more than 200 per cent and in the UK Chery came in at No.2 for sales in July beating local favourite Ford.And the company hasn’t even started selling in the United States yet, but it will within the next two years.Chery has been very fortunate this time around, but luck is only when opportunity meets skill as they say.Or maybe Chery did find a genie’s lamp. In which case I wonder what its two other wishes were? 

Could a Jaecoo-badged version of the upcoming Chery Stockman ute be on the cards for Australia?The Chinese-made Chery workhorse is set to enter the super competitive dual-cab market later this year and it will be the first ute powered by a diesel-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain.Being part of the massive Chery Group, Omoda Jaecoo could potentially offer its own version of the ute if it can make a business plan stack up.Omoda Jaecoo Australia Chief Commercial Officer Roy Munoz told CarsGuide Chery Group shares platforms and tech, but he was coy on whether his brand was developing its own version of the ute.“So because we're part of Chery as a group, obviously we share platforms, we share powertrains, we share R&D and technology. So it's always possible that we could have our own version, but nothing's been confirmed at this stage,” he said at the recent Jaecoo J8 launch.When asked if he thought a ute would be a good fit for the brand in Australia, Munoz quickly said “yes.”“I always think that there's always room for another option for the Australian market, and yeah, ultimately the customer will decide whether that product belongs or not.”While not officially confirmed, a Jaecoo ute makes sense given the positioning of the brand. Under the wider Chery banner, Jaecoo is positioned as the adventure brand, although the coming iCaur brand is also undoubtedly an adventure brand.Yet another Chery brand, Jetour, has already detailed its version of the Stockman, dubbed the F700 for China.The Stockman’s powertrain combines a 2.5-litre turbocharged diesel engine with an electric motor delivering 350kW/800Nm sent to all four wheels.It has an EV-only driving range up to 100km, but this is calculated via the more lenient NEDC test cycle. Expect closer to 80km when tested to the WLTP cycle.Chery Group Australia’s management must also be looking at dual-cab ute sales and considering whether further growth is even possible.The 4x4 dual-cab ute segment has stagnated with year-to-date sales figures to the end of June down 11.1 per cent, or close to 12,000 units. A number of new ute models that have arrived in the past 12 or so months have failed to fire, including the MG U9 and its LDV Terron 9 twin, the JAC T9, Foton Tunland (all from China) and Kia’s Tasman.The only new ute that’s struck a chord with buyers is the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV), which is now Australia’s third best-selling 4x4 dual-cab behind the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.The Chery Stockman’s strong design and innovative diesel plug-in hybrid setup could help it buck the trend in the ute segment, but could a Jaecoo version do the same? Time will tell.Regardless of whether Jaecoo opts for a ute based on the new ladder-frame platform that underpins Stockman, there is a possibility that the brand could use it to form the basis of a large premium SUV - something Chinese marques are increasingly focusing on.Munoz wouldn’t be drawn on whether a new SUV model built on the platform was in development, but left it open to possibility.“It's certainly always appealing. I wouldn't be able to comment on whether there is something coming or not, but certainly, the powertrain now exists, the platform exists, so anything is possible.”Carmakers typically don’t spend millions developing new platforms and powertrains for a single model, so expect the diesel plug-in hybrid ladder frame to surface somewhere new soon.

Owners of European premium brands are trading in their cars for more affordable Chinese-branded cars, according to Omoda Jaecoo’s local boss.Chery’s burgeoning offshoot, Omoda Jaecoo, has experienced significant growth in the past 12 months, rolling out three models with multiple powertrain variants in quick succession.Capitalising on Australian buyers’ hunger for more affordable, feature-packed cars, Omoda Jaecoo sales have increased by a whopping 1177 per cent year on year, albeit off a lower base and fewer models.With four models available - the Omoda 9 and Jaecoo J5, J7 and J8 SUVs, the brand is now outselling bigger names like Honda, Suzuki, Lexus and another rising Chinese marque, Zeekr.Those sales have to come from somewhere, and Omoda Jaecoo Australia Chief Commercial Office Roy Munoz says while not many people are coming in and cross shopping with other Chery brands, he has some idea of the brands they’ve nabbed buyers from.“Not much of a Chery cross shop, surprisingly, and it's a mixed bag at the moment. We don't have specific data, but what we can see from the past 12 months are the vehicles that are being traded in,” he told CarsGuide.“So you might have a buyer from a legacy volume brand. You might have buyers from legacy premium brands also. So the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Audi, even JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) customers maybe stepping into the likes of a (Jaecoo) J8 or an Omoda 9 or even a J7 as well, even down to J5. So it's hard to pinpoint exactly where they're coming from, but customers are responding well just to that value proposition of these products.”Being one of the fastest growing brands by sales not just in Australia, but globally, is a solid flex, but Munoz explained it doesn’t come without challenges, especially in relation to customer experience.“Well, customer experience, it's always easier to say is the primary focus and hard to do in practice, right? So, I guess in establishing ourselves, yes, being a fast-growing brand, it's not necessarily just about the sales. So, you could be fast growth in terms of sales, but are you fast growth in service? And by that I mean, are you fast to respond? Do you have parts readily available? Are customers generally happy? So for us, growth in terms of sales, yes, that is important. But sustainable growth, to be able to service and support your growing customer base is probably even more important for us.”Munoz acknowledged the new auto brand still has a ways to go when it comes to building a robust aftersales program, but highlighted where it is investing.“We still have a bit of work to do, and the work is being done as we speak. We're investing in not just human resources, but in our parts warehousing as well, parts supply, technician training, and ensuring that, because aftersales sells your second, third, fourth car. Sales sells your first car, primarily. So that customer advocacy is something that you don't build overnight. It’s built over time, and it's built through every customer interaction. So we treat each one as seriously as each other.”Munoz wouldn’t be drawn on sales targets for Australia, and he also said there’s no hierarchy within Chery Group dictating that Chery must be the top brand with others like Omoda Jaecoo, Lepas and iCaur sitting behind. This was once Hyundai Group’s strategy years ago - Hyundai was the main brand and Kia the smaller sister brand.“No, I guess we've got our own sort of strategies and growth ambitions. Certainly, as long as it's a Chery brand, we'd love to see it on top. Chery on top. Sorry, had to throw that in there. But certainly, I think you'll find when you look at the global data… in some markets Chery might be selling better, in other markets Omoda Jaecoo might be selling better. It really depends on how the market responds to those brands. But I've said it before: as long as a customer has purchased a Chery Group product, they're a winner.”

Aussies are going to be buying more Chinese cars than ever as exports boom.Our market is proving to be the perfect place for under-fire Chinese brands to move on from their oversaturated domestic market.Meanwhile, new Chinese government rules mean smaller Chinese automakers will have a better chance of becoming true competitors to bigger brands like BYD.Legislative changes have diminished the advantages of mass-production, reducing the profit on a single car sold for 200,000 yuan ($42,000) to just 3000 yuan (or $633) according to Auto Home.Brands now must look more closely at overseas markets, and Australia is standing out.Australia does not have a domestic car industry to protect so it does not impose the same expensive tariffs or rules as other markets, making it more attractive to some importers.Europe has had a series of up to 35 per cent tariffs in place on Chinese manufacturers importing EVs since late 2024 to encourage or protect local production.Thailand, one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world, has also introduced rules requiring two cars to be locally produced for every car imported.Chinese car exports surged by 65 per cent in the first half of 2026, with a whopping 5.1 million cars sold, via Auto Home.BYD and Chery have contributed nearly 2 million overseas sales between them so far this year.Virtually three-quarters of Chery’s total sales came from overseas in the first half of 2026.Many of these cars are coming to Australia as our market now sources more cars from China than it does from Japan.Nothing says this more than the current top 10 best-selling electric cars all being built in China. The BYD Sealion 7 electric mid-size SUV (from $54,000, before on-road costs) has been a raging success for the brand in Australia.Chery’s budget-friendly small SUVs the Tiggo 4 petrol/plugless hybrid (from $23,990, drive-away) and Jaecoo J5 EV ($36,990, drive-away) are some of the most popular cars on the roads today.The BYD Atto 1 hatchback is the cheapest new electric car in Australia, starting from $23,990 (before on-road costs). The larger Dolphin is also available from under $30,000.Chinese brands will continue to place further emphasis on Australia as they look to expand their local line-ups.Geely has already seen success with its EX5 electric mid-size SUV, but its methodical approach will see plenty more models hit showrooms in the next year.Brands like GAC and XPeng are also accelerating their launch plans as they feel the squeeze back home.

A Chinese brand rivalry is heating up in Australia.Chery Group is one of the largest growing carmakers in Australia but it is now facing competition from within its own ranks. Omoda Jaecoo has burst onto the Australian car scene with its Jaecoo J5 small electric SUV, which claimed the best-selling small SUV title for May 2026. It even outsold the Chery Tiggo 4, which is the best-selling SUV so far this year.The Tiggo 4 starts from $23,990 (drive-away), making it the cheapest in its segment. The J5 EV carries on this budget mantra, starting from $36,990 (drive-away).This makes it much cheaper than many of its legacy rivals like the Hyundai Kona Electric ($54,000, before on-road costs). A petrol J5 has just gone on sale and a hybrid is on the way, bringing Omoda Jaecoo’s important model into direct competition with the Tiggo 4. The petrol variant is priced from $25,990 (drive-away), making it $2000 more than the Tiggo 4, but it is marketed as a more premium version of its closely-related sibling.Omoda Jaecoo by Australian Chief Commercial Officer Roy Munoz emphasised the importance of the J5, describing it at the brand's 'hero' model.Munoz said the Chery Group brands need each other to be successful in Australia, but rivalry still exists between them.“There’ll always be competition,” he told CarsGuide.  “We can’t win them all. They can’t win them all, but together we can win a big share of the market.“So as long as we’re still both up there, that’ll keep everyone happy.”The Chery Group rivalry will heat up further in the coming months with the arrival of Lepas that will debut in Australia with its L6 electric mid-size SUV. Lepas will be joined by Freelander and iCaur from 2027 as the Chery Group sub-brand collection grows. Chery Group subsidiary Jetour has also been confirmed for Australia, but it will operate under its own steam as opposed to forming part of what has already been established Down Under. 

This Aussie favourite budget SUV is getting hybrid power.Jaecoo has announced a hybrid version of its J5 small SUV will join the electric and purely petrol variants from August.It will start from $34,990, drive-away, meaning it is only $2000 less than the hugely-successful EV, but $9000 more than the base petrol-powered J5.This new J5 will be more expensive than hybrid variants of the Chery Tiggo 4, GWM Haval Jolion and MG ZS that are all available from $29,990.Omoda Jaecoo is a sub-brand of Chery and is pitched as a semi-premium alternative to traditional budget Chinese carmakers.The car comes in a single ‘Summit’ grade, with no plans to introduce a cheaper hybrid grade of the J5 in the future.Prices for petrol-powered and EV examples will stay the same despite the addition of a hybrid option.It has a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and electric motor set-up, producing 165kW and 295Nm, making it the most powerful J5 in the lineup.It has substantially more performance than its petrol sibling (108kW/210Nm) and represents a marginal increase on the 155kW/288Nm in the EV.Its performance also trumps its closest competitors.The new set-up is also more efficient, reducing fuel consumption to 5.6L/100km from 7.5/100km on the petrol-only car.The car will be front-wheel drive like the rest of the J5 lineup. Omoda Jaecoo said this improved efficiency and performance is courtesy of a new iteration of Chery's hybrid technology.  A spokesperson for Omoda Jaecoo Australia would not confirm whether this is a version of its next-generation ‘Super Hybrid’ DHT160 set-up announced earlier this year. The J5 Hybrid has a similar exterior look to the petrol variant, but has been given a different design for its 18-inch alloy wheels. Its interior features synthetic leather seats, with the front ones heated and ventilated, as well as a fixed panoramic sunroof. There is a 13.2-inch central touchscreen and 8.8-inch digital driver display, as well as a 50W wireless phone charger.The car boasts other convenience features such as a powered tailgate and 360-degree camera.This hybrid variant completes the J5 lineup in Australia for Omoda Jaecoo. The EV is the strongest-selling J5 variant, with cheaper recently-launched petrol-powered variant having a positive start to life in Australia as well.

Electric cars are finally having their mainstream moment in Australia, and now make up over 16 per cent of Australia’s new car market.Sales have significantly jumped year-on-year, helped along by a much wider availability of more affordable models, but also an unprecedented fuel crisis, which has made the cost of running a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle front of mind for many.This surge of new options has also seen the list of top-selling electric cars undergo a significant re-shuffle, with new brands featuring heavily.Tesla notably takes the crown for the best selling EV in Australia for the first half of 2026, with its Model Y achieving 20,396 total registrations according to Electric Vehicle Council data. This is due to an eyebrow-raising 8072 unit tally in June thanks to a literal boatload of cars arriving.Next down the charts is BYD with its smash-hit Sealion 7 mid-size SUV. The Sealion 7, which is a key rival to the Model Y, can be had at a more keen $54,990 price-point with similar specs to the Tesla that starts from $58,900 before on-roads.Alongside the plug-in hybrid Shark 6, the Sealion 7 is a major part of BYD’s success story in Australia over the past year.The next two players down compete at the entry-level to their respective segments.Geely’s EX5 clocked up 6756 registrations in the first half of 2026, a quiet achiever in an extremely competitive part of the market. While it goes into battle against a range of rivals in the $40,000 price bracket, it has more than doubled the sales of its closest rival, the previously-popular BYD Atto 3, and it sold 20 times the volume of the similar Leapmotor C10.Below the EX5 is the Jaecoo J5. While this model is now available with petrol power, it is the EV version that has been on sale longer and managed to secure fourth position for the first half of the year, racking up 6113 units.This is no doubt largely thanks to the electric version’s extremely keen $36,990 before on-roads price-tag and generous dimensions for a small SUV, making it the sweet spot for many first time EV adopters. It also undercuts the Atto 3 and Leapmotor B10, and has good visibility in the market thanks to Omoda Jaecoo’s rapidly expanding dealer network.Rounding out the top five electric cars in Australia for the first half of 2026 is the Zeekr 7X. A smash hit for Geely’s premium arm. The 7X stands out for its radical design and strong specs at a generous price point (from $57,900 before on-roads). As a result, the brand tells us that it is attracting not only aspirational buyers, but also buyers who were previously driving BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes.Previous top-sellers, the Model 3 and BYD Atto 3, have now dropped out of the top five, amassing a little over 3000 sales each. Kia’s also-popular EV5 mid-size and EV3 SUVs fell short of the list with less than 3000 sales each.All of the electric cars in the top five for the first half of the year were built in China, with the exception of the Performance grade of the Tesla Model Y (which would account for only a small proportion of its sales), showing the country’s leadership in the electric car space.Mainstream brands are struggling on the EV front, with cars like the Toyota bZ4X mid-size SUV amassing just 1718 sales. Volkswagen is in a similar position, with its similar ID.4 amassing just 1183 sales.Even MG, which was the original Chinese-backed success story in Australia, has tumbled down the charts. Its MG4 hatch has lost hundreds of sales year-on-year. Its S5 and S6 electric SUVs are struggling to compete with newer players, amassing just 1713 and 647 sales respectively.The share of EV sales in the Australian market will inevitably grow as tough new emissions laws start to shape the line-ups of most brands.

We might just have seen the first car from an Australian-bound budget 4WD brand.iCaur is due to land in Australia in 2027 as yet another sub-brand under the Chery umbrella and it could debut with this boxy hybrid SUV.Range-extender (REEV) variants of the Jaecoo 6T have launched in the right-hand drive market of Thailand, which could be its final step before entering Australia.The SUV is called the iCaur 03 in most other markets, despite being sold under the Jaecoo banner in Thailand. The iCaur brand remains a developing situation in Australia, with all models still under consideration, but the availability of so many variants of the iCaur 03 now in right-hand drive bolsters its chances of being a shoo-in for Australia. We can expect more details on the incoming brand towards the end of the year. As a segment-bending small SUV, the iCaur 3 would be an off-road focused alternative to the Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid or serve as a closer theoretical rival to the Renault Duster with its off-road aspirations. The iCaur 3 is currently available with (REEV) and all-electric set-ups, available in two-wheel and four-wheel drive.The REEV gets a 1.5-litre petrol engine responsible for charging the battery, along with an electric motor set-up to drive the wheels. The RWD produces 185kW/300Nm, while the 4WD produces 315kW/505Nm. Acceleration from 0-100km/h can be as fast as 5.5 seconds. Both cars are fitted with a 34kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery. It offers a fully-electric driving range of up to 190km for the 2WD and 160km for the 4WD, according to more generous NEDC standards. Total driving range for the 2WD is 800km, while the 4WD has 750km, also according to NEDC. The EV also has 2WD and 4WD offerings, with single and dual electric motor set-ups.It has boxy proportions, with a separate horizontal and vertical rectangular headlight design, and is available in a standout yellow paint job. On the inside, it has a 15.6-inch central touchscreen and 9.2-inch digital driver display.It also has wireless phone charging and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.Stay tuned on more about iCaur with more information on the brand set to be revealed before the end of this year.