First up, which brands are we discussing here? There are many brands of motor vehicles that are manufactured in China, many of which may surprise you.
The Chinese manufactures include vehicles such as MG, BYD, LDV, Cherry and GWM. These brands are the ones you may already know about. What you may not know is that many household car brands in Australia are designed in countries like, Thailand, Germany, Japan and the USA but due to cheaper production costs are manufactured in factories established in China. Some of those brands include Tesla, Volkswagen, Volvo and some Toyotas.
But the big question is are these cars any good?
The argument of “you get what you paid for” is not particularly accurate when discussing the traditional car market. Shelling out over six figures for a Land Rover (made by Tata which is an Indian based company with its headquarters based in Mumbai) gave no more mechanical reliability of a twenty-thousand-dollar Hyundai I20. Infact when comparing reliability, cost of repairs and upkeep and depreciation statistics the Hyundai runs rings around the Land Rover.
Simply paying more for a car doesn’t guarantee a better quality made vehicle. However, when comparing vehicles of the same category, the rule of thumb, “you get what you paid for applies”. In the case of the Chinese produced vehicles vs their Korean and Japanese counterparts the price variation directly relates to the quality. Pay more upfront and get a better-quality vehicle.
The Chinese made vehicles are able to do the task, they start, they run and they get you from A to B. They are no longer required to meet safety ratings but can choose to have the vehicles assed and evaluated.
Would we advise buying one? Currently no for a number of reasons. Whilst the Chinese auto makers have upped their game in the last decade they still have not caught up to the Japanese and Koran competitors when it comes to quality and reliability. As far as features and options go the Chinese have overtaken.
The Chinese vehicles often display harsher suspension, less of a comfortable ride, clunky multimedia interface and unusual handling.
The Secondary and more concerning challenge with many of these brands is the lack of spare parts readily available. Both new genuine parts and cheaper aftermarket parts are not as seamless to source as one would expect. Aftermarket options for almost all of the Chinese vehicles seem to be non existent forcing vehicle repair shops to turn to the dealership for genuine parts which are costly and not essential.
In several cases workshop owners have reported local dealership networks not having access to basic service items like oil filters and brake pads forcing owners to turn to Ebay as a final resort. This is risky at the best of times.
If the vehicle is still covered by warranty owners have no choice but to wait for genuine parts. These parts have to be shipped from China or even manufactured and then shipped forcing the vehicle to be parked whilst the Warranty burns up.
So why are they so popular. Because they are cheap.
