{"id":921155,"date":"2026-10-08T23:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921155\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T23:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:08:20","slug":"toyota-australia-wont-rule-out-cheaper-chinese-made-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921155\/","title":{"rendered":"Toyota Australia won\u2019t rule out cheaper Chinese-made cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toyota Australia<\/a> says it\u2019s not yet planning to join the growing list of automakers offering Chinese-made models in Australia, with Ford and Nissan among the latest brands to announce China-made vehicles for its local lineup.<\/p>\n

New-vehicle prices have been tumbling in Australia, with recent cuts seeing the made-in-China BYD Atto 1 <\/a>become the cheapest car outright \u2013 alongside the MG 3<\/a>, also from China \u2013 at $19,990 drive-away.<\/p>\n

The Chinese-made Chery Tiggo 4<\/a> small SUV is effectively tied with the Mahindra XUV 3XO<\/a> as Australia\u2019s cheapest SUV, with deals from $22,490 drive-away, while the BYD Atto 2 DM-i<\/a> small SUV is now the cheapest plug-in hybrid (PHEV) in showrooms with a launch offer of $25,990 drive-away.<\/p>\n

Tesla Australia, too, switched sourcing of its range-topping Model Y Performance<\/a> from Germany to China early this month, while cutting its price by $4500 to $84,900 before on-road costs.<\/p>\n

Looking for your next car?<\/p>\n

CarExpert can help you research<\/a>, compare<\/a> and buy<\/a> so you choose with confidence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It also introduced a new entry-level Model 3<\/a> sedan \u2013 also made in China \u2013 priced at $45,900 before on-road costs, making it the cheapest electric sedan<\/a> in Australian new-car showrooms.<\/p>\n

An entry-level Toyota Camry<\/a> hybrid sedan, made in Japan and similarly-sized to the Model 3, remains priced at $39,990 before on-road costs, while Toyota Australia increased the price of the Corolla<\/a> hatch by as much as $1000<\/a> at the beginning of October 2026.<\/p>\n

Speaking to CarExpert, John Pappas, Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations, said price cuts from rivals don\u2019t change the brand\u2019s approach and won\u2019t force it to source cars from China in an effort to lower showroom prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t control what other companies do with their prices, and we respect all our competitors, but at the end of the day, for us, being competitive is more than just the price of the car,\u201d Mr Pappas said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the whole ecosystem, the ownership experience. It\u2019s about resale value; it\u2019s about investing in the infrastructure of all the distribution parts centres \u2013 we just launched one in Western Australia; we\u2019re about to launch a brand new one in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, for us, it\u2019s all about making sure that we have strong QDR [Quality, Durability and Reliability] and brand trust for our customers, and we have a full end-to-end experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toyota has produced vehicles in China since 2000, and today manufactures there through joint ventures with FAW and GAC, both of which have links to brands entering the Australian market.<\/p>\n

GAC launched in Australia in November 2025<\/a>, while FAW plans to sell Hongqi passenger cars here from 2027 under the \u2018HQ\u2019 brand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Last month, Toyota was reported to be planning production of its first extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) in China<\/a> from 2027, though no plans to export them have been confirmed.<\/p>\n

While Toyota has a wide range of vehicles developed for China with its joint venture partners, few are available in right-hand drive. However, the bZ3X \u2013 a close cousin to the GAC Aion V<\/a> sold here \u2013 is exported in right-hand drive to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a global company like Toyota, being in 190 markets around the world, and having manufacturing facilities and partnerships globally, we\u2019ll always be looking at where we source our vehicles,\u201d Mr Pappas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t rule out any particular country as long as that vehicle is going to play a market need for our customer within that segment. We\u2019ll always be considering those options. Like I said to you before, Toyota competitiveness is not just about the price of a car.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Key rival Ford recently announced its first two Chinese-made models, the Bronco Basecamp<\/a> and Transit City<\/a>, for its Australian lineup.<\/p>\n

The US brand joins Mazda, Mini, Hyundai, Volkswagen-owned Cupra and Tesla in offering China-made vehicles in Australia.<\/p>\n

According to Lucas Harris, chief operating officer of Chinese brand Chery Australia, automakers such as Ford have little choice but to source vehicles from China<\/a> if they want to keep pace with rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that they have really no choice if they want to remain competitive; to look at ways to do that, and if one of those ways is to produce vehicles in China, well, you could hardly knock them for it, can you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ford Australia marketing director Ambrose Henderson told CarExpert the company is constantly looking at vehicles from its global lineup for local showrooms, which he says gives it a competitive edge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not about the cheapest car … what we\u2019re doing is adding to that the technology that China is able to deliver from a transitional-technology perspective, from a powertrain transitional-technology perspective, to add to that portfolio,\u201d Mr Henderson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, for us, are we worried about where we source the product from? No. What we\u2019re focused on is using our global network and our global power to get the right products for the Australian customer based on what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Explore the Toyota showroom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toyota Australia says it\u2019s not yet planning to join the growing list of automakers offering Chinese-made models in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-921155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}