The president of a Chinese car giant has urged Australian customers to “be careful” when buying from established car brands in decline, amid fierce debate around the Albanese Government’s new vehicle laws.
President and vice chairman of XPeng, Brian Gu, spoke at his brand’s relaunch in Melbourne, where he insisted buying from established brands struggling for traction poses a greater risk to customers than emerging brands with strong momentum.
“You have to look at the trajectory,” he said.
“It’s not the absolute number that counts. It’s the trajectory that counts, right?
“If a company is going from 20 per cent to 5 per cent, you’ve got to be careful.
“There’s one direction it’s heading.
“But if a company is going from zero to five per cent that’s actually a different matter.”
Even with the trajectory in mind, many Australians don’t trust Chinese companies replacing showrooms held by legacy brands.
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A story published by News Corp Australia attracted hundreds of comments from readers keen to have their say on the matter.
Readers accused legacy brands of “taking the Aussie market for granted for years now”, by “offering dated products at high prices”, and suggested that “now they are paying the price for that complacency”.
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People compared the likes of Nissan and Mitsubishi to film manufacturer Kodak, mobile phone manufacturer Nokia and video rental firm Blockbuster.
“Don’t whine and blame others just because the world moves on,” they said.
“Chinese cars that are affordable, technologically advanced and of superior quality have arrived and totally destroyed the overpriced legacy automakers who did not innovate,” said one reader on Facebook.
“Legacy automakers are on the same path as Nokia.”
While some people were hesitant to choose a car from a new brand – one said they were “never ever buying Chinese junk” – others welcomed the shift in manufacturing trends.
“Isn’t that the point of capitalism? People are buying vehicles in a competitive market and are seeking to purchase the best value for money vehicle. This currently means vehicles like BYD are getting a lot of the sales,” another person said.
A car dealer in Wondonga set to close its Volkswagen and Mitsubishi showrooms blamed government emissions policy for making its business unsustainable.
Some readers agreed that the government was to blame for established car brands struggling.
“Thank you Albo and Chalmers, and let us know when you change your position,” one person said.
“Labor and Albo just making policies to appease Chinese. There is no level playing field for other car manufacturers,” said another.
Not everyone believes the government is at fault.
“It’s easier to blame the government than admit you misread the market,” a reader said.
“Consumers changed. The successful brands changed with them. Those that ignored demand for better value, better tech and more competitive products are now paying the price, not because of Canberra.”
XPeng’s Gu urged motorists to “separate technology from politics.”
“Technology should not have national boundaries, right?” he said.
“Good technology that is useful in China should be used in other countries, a good EV should be made available to customers as widely as possible.”
Read related topics:Anthony Albanese