Hyundai Australia 'watching Chinese brands closely'

Korean firm Hyundai says it is "watching the Chinese brands closely" as the newcomers to market start to ruffle the feathers of legacy carmakers.

A Hyundai Australia insider told Wheels it is looking at what marques such as MG, BYD and Haval are doing as they become more popular in the local market.

"We're watching them closely...for everything...the quality, aftersales, price – everything."

While Hyundai has rocketed to the top of the charts in recent years, now consistently holding a place in the top five brands each month and year-to-date, it is not resting on its laurels about the threat the Chinese firms might pose in future.

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Indeed, over the last 18 months in Australia, MG has risen to become a regular top 10 brand, sitting around the lower end for most of 2021, but chasing down a few spots in 2022 to place 7th year-to-date as of July with 27,525 sales compared to Hyundai's 44,959.

While in July the Korean marque's mid-sized Tucson SUV did well with 2186 sales – thanks to bolstered supply arriving in June – the MG ZS fell from the top 10 due to constraints on vehicle numbers. However, for the year so far the ZS is winning, with 1229 units shifted putting it in 10th, while the Tucson was nowhere to be seen.

Furthermore, both the MG HS SUV and MG3 hatch have made appearances this year – albeit only briefly.

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Earlier this week, fellow Chinese compatriot BYD 'Build Your Dreams' hosted the launch of the first right-hand-drive examples of its Atto 3 electric SUV.

The up-and-coming brand also plans to bring two more EVs – the Dolphin hatch and Seal sedan – here early next year.

Meanwhile, GWM Haval sells its H6 mid-sized SUV here, in regular, GT and hybrid form, as well as the Haval Jolion and GWM Ute – of which 557, 744 and 826 were sold in July respectively.