Chinese car giant GAC has rejigged its plans for an Australian launch to bypass an independent distributor – and launch eight models in two years, from budget-priced SUVs to a hybrid ute.
GAC has declared a bold target to place among Australia's Top 10 best-selling brands – ahead of the likes of Nissan, Volkswagen and Tesla, selling more than 40,000 cars annually – within two years of reaching local showrooms later this year.
The Chinese car giant has scrapped plans to enter Australia through an independent distributor, and will instead launch as a factory-backed operation.
And GAC has accelerated its plans for new models, plotting eight models in showrooms by the end of 2027 – including a plug-in hybrid and range-extender hybrid ute.
The first three models are due in a network of 30 franchise dealerships around the country later this year: the Aion V small electric SUV, E9 plug-in hybrid people mover, and Emzoom petrol small SUV.
All will be sold as divisions of the master GAC brand – in one showroom network – much like GWM sells Haval SUVs, Ora electric cars and Tank 4WDs.
Prices are yet to be confirmed, but Drive understands GAC is targeting other Chinese brands such as BYD, in undercutting established Japanese marques without being the cheapest in the market.
"[GAC China] want to achieve Top 10 [sales] by 2027," Jason Pecotic, chief operating officer of GAC Motor Australia, told Drive.
Pecotic – who has previously played a key role in introducing Chinese LDV vans, MG cars, and JAC utes to Australia – has been contracted by GAC to lead its push into the local market.
"They do have an aggressive push into the Top 10. They're the top five manufacturer themselves in China, so they've come to Australia as OEM direct-to-market to gain a good market share with the vehicles they're bringing out," he said.
If it can achieve its bold target, it would be one of the fastest ramp-ups of a new brand in Australian automotive history.
BYD has broken into the Top 10 in 2025 – three years after arriving in 2022 – but it took MG five years to do so, in a less competitive market with fewer new Chinese brands competing for the same sales.
"It was probably about eight or nine months ago they [GAC head office] decided to not come to Australia via a distributor model, due to the concerns over [the efficacy of the] distributor model in this country," Pecotic said.
The GAC Aion V electric SUV – a Geely EX5 competitor – included in the proposed distributor's plans for Australian showrooms remains part of this year's launch calendar.
It will be joined by the GAC E9, a plug-in hybrid people mover bigger than a Kia Carnival, rated for 120km of electric-only driving range in NEDC lab testing, and a power output of 274kW.
Also on the agenda is the Emzoom – sold in China under the Trumpchi brand, alongside the E9 – a small, 1.5-litre turbo-petrol SUV aimed at budget-priced offerings from rival Chinese marques, including the MG ZS and Chery C5.
It is also on sale in the right-hand-drive South African market, where the top-of-the-range model is 10 per cent dearer than a flagship petrol GWM Haval Jolion, the equivalent of which is $33,990 drive-away in Australia.
Plans for petrol-only vehicles without hybrid or electric technology were not in the distributor's original plan for GAC in Australia.
"It's an ICE [petrol-only] engine, and the reason being is that that seems to be the dominant marketplace for Chinese OEMs [brands] coming to Australia. GAC made the decision to go that way as they move forward," Pecotic told Drive.
"In China, we have three brands – we have Aion, Trumpchi, and Hyptec – and those three brands are manufactured by GAC. All those three brands are coming into Australia under the GAC brand.
"They [head office] are not doing what Chery or Geely have done, where they're bringing different brands under different OEM names.
"They're all under the GAC brand to basically strengthen the GAC brand here in Australia."
A wide range of models is due to follow the initial three next year and into 2027.
Due between January and March 2026 is a small hatchback, followed by a mid-size SUV with range-extender or plug-in hybrid technology around September 2026.
Both could be sourced from GAC's Hyptec brand, Pecotic said, which currently fields the HT large SUV (below) as its smallest high-riding model, a vehicle still a class larger than the Model Y rival teased by the executive.
The Hyptec brand also fields the SSR supercar, but that is a less likely candidate for local showrooms.
"Going into 2027, we're doing a large EV [electric] SUV ... and then we're doing [another] large SUV, which will be a hybrid range-extender or PHEV," he said.
"At the moment, where GAC is looking, they're looking at the market and looking to see what powertrains are successful in this country."
"GAC are launching a pick-up towards the third or fourth quarter of 2027, and that'll come as a range extender or PHEV," Pecotic told Drive, confirming it is locked in for right-hand drive."
Range-extender hybrid technology uses the petrol engine solely as a generator to power the electric motors that drive the wheels, and to top up the onboard, externally rechargeable battery pack.
A BYD Shark 6 also drives its front and rear wheels using electric motors, but unlike a range-extender vehicle, the petrol engine can still directly drive the front wheels when full power is needed.
The GAC executive said the brand's warranty will be "similar to other Chinese brands", suggesting seven years of coverage, without a kilometre limit.
Asked about pricing, he said: "We know how competitive all the brands are at the moment, so we're not coming to market to fail, and we will come to market with a competitive price.
"... We're targeting the product positioning to be midstream, so we're not going to be the cheapest, we're not going to be the dearest.
"GAC in China is a quality premium product, and that's the point of difference that we're bringing to market."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
