Image vs reality: Truth about cut-price Chinese cars from MG, GWM, Chery, BYD, GAC, Leapmotor, Geely and Zeekr and how they've evolved into true challengers for established brands like Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and more | Opinion

Just as there was scepticism about Japan's global auto expansion in the 1970s and resistance to Korea's meteoric rise in the '90s, there are staunch detractors of Chinese cars today. 

Balanced critique is always justified, of course, and there are a few common red flags we spot in road tests: loose body control, clunky transmission tuning, unproven customer service and — most widely publicised — poor real-world functionality of active safety systems. 

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s the speed of change is faster in China than any other car making country in history. Is now the time to drop your prejudices and consider a new car from MG, GWM, Chery, BYD, GAC, Leapmotor, Geely, Zeekr and other fresh-faced Chinese brands?

The most recent interaction I had with a Chinese-made car was the new MG HS. Yes, MG is ostensibly a British badge but it is wholly the property of state-owned SAIC motor group. 

It packs in astounding value, priced from $33,990 drive-away, in Vibe guise with metallic paint, 18-inch alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, six-speaker sound system, auto wipers and a pretty efficient 125kW turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine. 

The engine is smooth, the dual-clutch transmission pretty slick, the ride’s comfortable and it handles quite well and has a 10-year warranty. So, what’s the catch? 

Well, the driver-monitoring was still annoying but no more so than the systems fitted to current Hyundais and Kias. I’ll admit to some pre-delivery control issues on our particular test vehicle, too. The black paint had ‘holograms’ in the clear coat (wavy lines noticeable in the sun) and the steering wheel sat a few degrees to the left when travelling straight. 

Aside from those minor quibbles, the HS proved itself a genuine threat to rivals such as the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and Nissan X-Trail on more than just price.

The HS is just one example and there are bound to be more in ICE space, but what’s already out of the question is electric car dominance. When it comes to the features, driving range and price parity with combustion-engined vehicles, Chinese EVs have the market cornered. Game-changing tech like solid state batteries seem to be China’s bread and butter.  

Locally, it’s BYD and MG leading the EV race, though the country of origin count muddies things a little muddy because Australian Tesla Model 3 and Model Ys are built in China, as is the Polestar 2. Even the Volkswagen Group is exporting from China with the Tavascan EV. 

Speaking to CarsGuide earlier this year, Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith projected how the market will change, from the perspective of a brand that’s risen from prime-time TV price-based ad jingles to a leader in design and electric car technology. 

"I believe [the market] will look very, very different. I think that the mix of country-of-origin is going to change dramatically,” said Meredith.

Meredith’s onto something, looking a short 10 years ago at the country of origin, China was nowhere. In 2014 the country delivered just 4154 cars to Australia for a meagre 0.4 per cent market share of a 1.1-million car market. 

Fast forward to last year’s results and China managed a huge 193,434 or 15.9 per cent of the market. There are some optimistic projections suggesting that cars made in China will account for 40 per cent of our market by 2030. 

For reference, last year Japan was the single largest player with 28.9 per cent share. If China takes such a big slice, it doesn’t leave much room for others and the product will be omnipresent on Australian roads and dealer forecourts.

This is no bad thing, mind you. The competition has already burned the pricing structure of legacy carmakers. Net benefit? The buyer. For example, Renault sliced $10,000 from its Megane E-Tech electric car and Subaru sliced the price of its Solterra before market launch, just to name a few. 

It isn’t just electric cars, either. China’s next frontier is hybrid excellence — specifically, plug-in hybrids. GWM Haval is already Australia’s second-biggest hybrid seller with a plug-in hybrid promising 180km of electric-only range coming to Australia next year to topple the Mitsubishi Outlander. 

MG is committed to a massive model offensive promising to enter six new segments in the next 12 months and Chery has big things planned for its quasi-luxury Jaecoo and wallet-friendly Tiggo sub-brands in Australia. 

Those are just the household names, on top of those there are new brands such as Aion, Geely, JAC, Stellantis-backed Leaptmotor, Merc-related Smart, Skywell, Xpeng and Zeekr all with solid plans, and probably even more to come. 

There are undoubtedly examples from all these brands that are a fair way behind segment leaders but they’re also shy on price. Crucially, the rate of improvement from all these brands is startling. If you haven’t yet, it won’t be long until you’ve encountered a Chinese-built car and my bet is you’ll be quietly impressed.