2026 GAC Emzoom review: Quick drive

It’s one of the curiosities of our industry that, despite new manufacturers entering the market every other month, the number of affordable cars has reduced significantly.

That’s not so much the case with GAC, which has launched in Australia with an initial lineup of three models. And one of them is priced at the lower end of the market, with the hope of capturing younger buyers who are on the hunt for value.

The new 2026 GAC Emzoom small SUV is set to shake up the segment, offering a long list of standard features, a strong specifications list, and relatively sharp pricing.

If you’ve missed our recent coverage of the GAC brand, the company says it learned how to build cars thanks to Toyota and Honda, with which it has co-developed several models in its native market of China.

Our review of the GAC Aion V last week certainly showed that to be true, with the electric SUV showing off a good quality interior, nice ride, and decent handling.

But at almost $20,000 less than the Aion V, we’re very interested to see how the Emzoom stacks up, and whether the company can spare any of that magic for its entry-level model.

However, GAC – by its own admission – is late to the Australian market.

While it’s trying to build trust by offering long warranties and opening a warehouse in Melbourne stacked with spare parts, it’s arguably entering an already saturated market – with consumers that are suffering fatigue from the sheer number of new brands going on sale in Australia.

Regardless, GAC seems to be doing all the right things for a company that’s in it for the long haul.

But in this value segment, will it be enough to make an impact against the likes of MG, Chery, and Haval?

How much does the GAC Emzoom cost?

The 2026 GAC Emzoom hits the Australian market with a single variant, the Luxury, priced from $25,590 before on-road costs.

Offering similar dimensions to the entry-level MG ZS Vibe, itself priced from $25,888 drive-away, the Emzoom has a longer list of standard features, and a far more impressive engine – but more on that later.

Chery does a little better though, with its range-topping Tiggo 4 Ultimate priced from $26,990 drive-away – the same money as the GWM Haval Jolion Premium.

While the Emzoom Luxury is the sole variant for now, we’re quietly hoping GAC considers bringing the sporty R-Style version to Australia in the future.

Even though the R-Style doesn’t add any additional performance to the Emzoom, it does add a pretty aggressive body kit with orange highlights, a sports exhaust with centrally-mounted dual exhaust outlets, firmer suspension, and some sticky Michelin tyres.

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

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What is the GAC Emzoom like on the inside?

Jumping into the GAC Emzoom for the first time, I had to double-check the price to make sure I was in the right car.

Every surface has had attention paid to it, with a good mix of soft-touch plastics and decent enough faux-leather upholstery.

The seats are comfortable, there is a smartphone charger located in the centre of the console – below a 14.6-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – and plenty of buttons and switches for those who prefer them. Which is *checks notes* literally everyone.

The steering wheel, which appears to have taken some influence from Ferrari, also has useful buttons – though doubling the stereo source with the volume control meant accidentally switching from Spotify to radio when too much pressure was applied.

Speaking of speakers, the stereo is damn good. Often this is an area that automakers will cheap out on, but the six-speaker DTS sound system punches above its weight.

There are some nice details throughout. The tweeter covers are brushed aluminium – like you’d find on a Mercedes-Benz – and there are plenty of double-stitched top seams in the leather upholstery.

The gear selector has a crystal embedded into it, the starter button is also brushed aluminium, and the interior door handles have a nice metal finish to them.

While this stuff can be done on the cheap, the surprising thing is the fit, finish, and overall interior build quality of the Emzoom comes off as being very good. Maybe not quite hitting Toyota or Honda levels, but it really ain’t that far off.

The result of all of these details is it elevates the experience subconsciously and helps occupants forget they’re in one of the best-value cars on the market.

According to independent organisation JD Power, GAC has taken the title for China Initial Quality Study for eight consecutive years – and that certainly tracks with our experience.

But despite how impressive the cabin is, driving on a rough, grainy part of the freeway caused a constant and irritating rattle from the sunroof shade. Maybe that was just our car, maybe it’s on all of them – we don’t know. But it raises some questions about whether the quality is just surface-level.

Step into the back seat and there’s a surprising amount of space back there. GAC has done a great job of packaging, considering the overall size of the Emzoom, and rear passengers get an air conditioner vent, a centre folding armrest, and individual headrests.

Boot space is adequate, with 341 litres available – or up to 1271L with the rear seats folded down.

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

The Emzoom is offered with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine making 125kW of power and 270Nm of torque, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

For a segment often made up of mostly underpowered engines, the GAC is a refreshing surprise.

Curiously though, it seems the engine has been tuned with 5kW less, compared with other markets. Perhaps it’s our fuel quality, maybe it’s to improve fuel efficiency or emissions.

While GAC hasn’t quoted a 0-100km/h time for Australia, overseas models with 130kW can complete the sprint in a claimed 7.5 seconds – which is plenty swift for most people.

According to GAC, fuel economy is between 5.4 and 8.5L/100km – between highway and city driving, respectively – for an average of 6.6L/100km.

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

How does the GAC Emzoom drive?

Like the interior, initial impressions were good – and then got better.

Performance is actually perfectly adequate, which is to say it’s neither overpowered nor underpowered. In other words, you won’t win any drag races, but there’s a good level of performance provided, and the Emzoom rarely feels like it’s screaming to get you to highway speeds.

Unfortunately, this strong engine is let down by a pretty average dual-clutch transmission. Sometimes it seemed fine, but the rest of the time, it was laggy, slow, and generally just a bit yuck to use. It’s not a deal breaker, but it stands out due to how good the rest of the package is.

Once you get up to speed, the disappointment of the gearbox fades away, and the vehicle’s ride and handling come to the fore.

And this was really where the GAC Emzoom shines. Sure, our time behind the wheel was limited, but ride comfort came across as being very good – even for a more expensive vehicle in this class – with the experience helped by a reasonably quiet cabin.

I’m sure the ride is not perfect; we just weren’t able to explore the limits of its capabilities due to time restraints. But there’s a lot of promise here, and for most owners using the Emzoom for daily commuting, the degree of smoothness on offer will be more than adequate.

It also handles well, offering a nice neutral balance with a good level of predictability, also made better by its excellent steering weight and feel. Again, the GAC isn’t quite at the same level as industry leaders like Toyota and Honda, but it’s head and shoulders above a lot of rivals from other Chinese automakers.

You can’t have it all though, and the cheap tyres fitted at the factory almost certainly held back its potential on winding roads – making us wonder how much better the Emzoom R-Style would be with those Michelin tyres fitted.

While the brakes work well enough, the pedal feel is a little on the thin side and doesn’t inspire oodles of confidence. Possibly not helped by the greater-than-normal sideways deflection in the brake pedal itself.

Like the electric Aion V, the advanced driver assist technology (ADAS) seemed as if it had been turned down to the absolute minimum level – with the exception of the driver attention monitoring, which was a point of annoyance. It may be as simple as not having liked my sunglasses, though.

We suspect GAC has probably studied the market and found that we often criticise ADAS on new cars for being overly invasive. In this case, we’re not sure the perfect balance has been found just yet, but we’re also relieved it’s not constantly causing us headaches.

Driving it back-to-back with the Aion V, we were expecting the two models to be essentially the same – just with different powertrains. But this wasn’t the case. While they both excel in similar ways, they are distinctively different models.

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

What do you get?

The list of standard features is pretty extraordinary for a vehicle at this price point, with the highlights being auto wipers and LED headlights, a powered tailgate, a DTS sound system, heated and ventilated seats – powered for the driver – as well as dual climate control, a space-saver spare tyre, and a powered panoramic sunroof.

2026 GAC Emzoom Luxury equipment highlights:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Space-saver spare wheel
• Automatic LED headlights
• LED tail-lights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Power-folding side mirrors
• Electric hidden door handles
• “Rear green glass”
• Panoramic sunroof
• Power tailgate
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• PVC leather upholstery
• Ventilated driver’s seat
• 6-way power-adjustable driver’s seat
• 4-way manually adjustable front passenger seat
• Power-folding rear seats
• 7.0-inch LCD instrument display
• 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless Android Auto
• Wireless phone charger
• Front USB-A and -C ports
• Rear USB-A port
• 6-speaker DTS sound system
• Dual-zone climate control
• Rear air vents
• Interior ambient lighting

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

Is the GAC Emzoom safe?

Neither the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) nor Euro NCAP have tested the GAC Emzoom at the time of writing.

But while the rating systems will vary greatly between ANCAP and its partner organisations, ASEAN NCAP did award the Emzoom a full five stars in June 2024 – though that isn’t necessarily a five-star rating by Australian standards.

Standard safety equipment highlights:

• 6 airbags, incl:
  • Dual front
  • Dual front-side
  • Side curtain
• Adaptive cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Lane departure warning
• Lane-keep assist
• Park assist
• Surround-view camera
• Tyre pressure monitoring

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

How much does the GAC Emzoom cost to run?

The GAC Emzoom is covered by a factory seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, making it one of the best warranties offered in this segment – matched only by MG’s seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which can be extended up to 10 years and 250,000km with regular dealership servicing.

GAC has yet to announce service scheduling for the Emzoom at the time of writing.

To see how the GAC Emzoom lines up against the competition, check out ourcomparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the GAC Emzoom

If GAC can get enough people behind the wheel to test drive the Emzoom, it could kick off a major upset in the sub-$30,000 category.

In fact, the Emzoom’s build quality, ride, handling, comfort, and performance may make this one of the best in its segment.

The brakes aren’t perfect and there are still things to improve on, but overall, this is a highly impressive car – and may even outshine its sibling, the Aion V, simply because of its cost. Or lack thereof.

But none of our complaints are big issues. Even putting the price aside, there’s nothing here that is a major red flag which would stop us from recommending the Emzoom – though we’re looking forward to getting the car in for a more comprehensive test in the future.

If you’re still throwing shade on Chinese cars, then you should also go and test drive one. Every year these cars close the gap to industry stalwarts from Japan and Korea, and the Emzoom has moved the needle more than any other in one fell swoop. Impressive? Absolutely.

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