The local chief of Chinese automaker GAC says the company is looking to rival top-selling brands Toyota and BYD in Australia, and claims broad customer acceptance of Chinese brands has already helped it exceed its own early sales forecast.
Speaking to CarExpert as it announced its Melbourne City FC A-League sponsorship, GAC Australia CEO Kevin Shu said the company’s sales were ahead of target following its official launch here in November 2025.
“We have sold around 4000,” Mr Shu told CarExpert, adding that GAC was already “over target” and on track to sell more than 4000 vehicles in the second half of 2026, although he would not commit to a figure.
“In the coming two years, we are 100 per cent in competition with Toyota and BYD,” Mr Shu told CarExpert.
GAC arrived in Australia with three models: the Emzoom hybrid hatch, the Aion V mid-size electric SUV, and the M8 hybrid people mover. A fourth model, the Aion UT electric hatch, joined the local lineup in March.
It remains one of a handful of brands not included in the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) monthly VFACTS sales reports, though the company is expected to be included later this year.
Mr Shu told media including CarExpert at the brand’s Australian launch event in Sydney last year that the company was targeting a top-10 brand ranking by 2030.
Australia’s 10th-best selling auto brand in 2025 was MG with 41,298 sales, and in the first six months of 2026 Tesla ranked 10th with 23,588.
GAC’s 4000-unit half-year sales rate would place it around 23rd among the 70-odd auto brands present in Australia, with a similar tally to Land Rover’s 8339 sales based on 2025 figures.
The company’s local CEO told CarExpert at the Melbourne City FC announcement that he expected GAC to be among the 10 best-selling brands sooner than 2030, perhaps even by 2028.
The greater ambition comes as China’s BYD rocketed up the Australian sales charts to second overall in May 2026, before repeating the feat and finishing just 243 vehicles behind long-time market leader Toyota in June.
Mr Shu said GAC is a long-term challenger to both BYD and Toyota, and that his confidence in the brand’s ability to go toe-to-toe with the market leaders is based on three factors.
“First of all, you can see Chinese brands grew very well,” Mr Shu said.
“In June 2025, they made up 18.6 per cent of market share. Last June, they enjoyed 39.6 per cent share. So Chinese brands are welcomed by customers.”
The second building block is the arrival of more models to bolster GAC Australia’s current four-nameplate lineup.
“Our previous planning was that in the coming five years, we would take in more than 10 models. But currently, we’ve confirmed in the next two or three years, we will take more than 10 models for this market,” Mr Shu said.
While no specific new models have been confirmed, GAC has said it will import multiple SUVs, having already shown the Range Rover-esque S7 and Tesla Model Y-rivalling Hyptec HT electric SUV in Australia.
The boxy Yue 7, a rival for the large plug-in hybrid Denza B5 off-road SUV, is also a candidate for local release. Mr Shu indicated GAC Australia could also offer battery-electric (EV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) powertrain here too.
“All of the models from the GAC are mass-production ready in the next six months,” he said. “For the SUV, we not only [plan] for the light SUV, small SUV, medium SUV, the larger SUV. For SUV, we have the PHEV, BEV, and EREV [powertrains].”
GAC has yet to decide the powertrain for another new model, a yet-to-be-named ute to rival the top-selling Ford Ranger, which it says will reach Australian showrooms in 2027.
More broadly, Mr Shu expects EVs to continue their rise and become more popular than hybrids.
“I’m sure EV will be much better than HEV because not only the cost saving but also the driving experience, the technology, voice control, automatic driving experience, and so on,” he said.
“When you drive an EV car, you never back to ICE [internal combustion-engined] cars.”
Mr Shu said the third factor that would help GAC become a top-selling brand in Australia was its continued dealer rollout, with a target of 60 sites across the country by the end of 2026.
“That’s why we launch our strategy in Australia for Australia on this strategy. We have the clear product planning, a clear network planning. Of course, we provide high service for our customers side.
“GAC is the only Chinese brand that can enjoy all segment products, all engine [types]. This is our confidence to survive this market, to have this long-term success for this market.”
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