GAC is one of the 16 Chinese brands now operating in Australia, but it says it will put the customer experience first and not make the same mistakes as BYD when it first launched. GAC is “not going to have the problems” that fellow Chinese car maker BYD had when it first entered the Australian market by focusing on the customer experience over “sales, sales, sales”, an executive claims. The brand, which arrived in Australia late last year and has already launched four models, says it is going hard on setting up its own dealerships and ensuring steady parts supply.

Although it is eyeing a spot in the top-10 best-selling brands within five years, Andrew Ratajczak, Director of Aftersales for GAC in Australia, said that would not be at the expense of looking after customers. MORE: GAC hopes to be a best-seller in Australia sooner than previously thought “Maybe from the outside looking in, it looks like they’ve (BYD) done well, but there’s, there’s a lot of things that probably could have been done better, Ratajczak told Drive. “There are a lot of mistakes that come from the beginning of networking, and that’s the point we’re making about getting dealers and covering the country, and also the one-on-one, if we’re going to have sales, we need service.

Because BYD just did sales, sales, sales. “So from us, we’re not going to have those problems starting from fresh.” MORE: GAC ute and large SUV due in Australia by end of 2027, more models to come BYD arrived in Australia in 2022 with the Atto 3, a small-to-medium SUV, as its first model. The brand has since racked up 100,000 local sales and cemented a place in the top 10, but early on it was heavily criticised for offering a poor customer experience.

Rather than running everything in-house, BYD partnered with third-party distributor EVDirect to sell its cars, with the mycar Tyre & Auto network to service them. Both tie-ups have since ceased, with EVDirect as of mid-2025 and mycar since December. MORE: Affordable EVs you can buy in Australia in 2026 Speaking previously to Drive, BYD Australia boss Stephen Collins pledged a smoother sales and aftercare experience for local customers, reduced wait times and an improved parts supply.

“I think taking over as the OEM [original equipment manufacturer] really allows us to streamline things,” Collins said. “We’ve just invested in a 20,000 square-metre parts warehouse in the north of Melbourne. We’re stocking that up right now.” Referring to the decision to bring its servicing in-house and cut ties with mycar, Collins said the partnership was necessary at the time because BYD needed to service its vehicles before it had a proper dealer footprint.

MORE: Tesla Cybertruck rival unveiled by Australia-bound GAC “We’ve struggled a bit on that front [after-sales customer satisfaction], I think just with the enormous, unprecedented growth that we’ve had, but we’re catching up, and that will improve as we go into next year.” Ratajczak said GAC was the first “challenger brand” – a term associated with new car makers coming into our market, as opposed to “legacy” brands that have been here for decades – to announce its own parts warehouse locally, having identified the need to do so early on. Its warehouse is located in Melbourne, but it is already considering options elsewhere as it expands.

“We are going to stock our warehouse straight away. We’re not going to rely on just having a small space that we can only work out of,” he told Drive. MORE: New family SUVs you need to keep an eye on in 2026 “We’ve got the capacity to build up to 10,000 square metres if we wanted to fill that space, and that will obviously, in turn, provide customers with excellent service, whether it be an accident, whether it be a service, a warranty repair, we want to lift that level.” GAC is ramping up its plans to dominate the Australian new-car market, promising 10 all-new models will launch here over the next couple of years.

So far, the manufacturer has four vehicles in-market: the M8 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) people-mover, Emzoom small SUV, Aion V electric medium SUV, and freshly-launched Aion UT electric hatch. “We are a fast-growing brand, but we need to make sure we have the support for them (the customers). It’s pretty important to us that that’s covered off,” he added.

MORE: 2026 GAC Aion UT price and specs – BYD Dolphin and MG 4 rival detailed for Australia Although not specifically aimed at GAC, BYD has fired its own pot shots by warning Australians to think carefully before buying a car from one of the newer Chinese brands. “We trust the Australian consumer in making the right choices,” BYD Asia Pacific managing director Liu Xueliang told media, including Drive, through an interpreter at the Melbourne motor show. It follows remarks made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that car brands new to the market are seeking to achieve high vehicle sales without backing them with appropriate servicing and parts. MORE: Prime Minister Albanese’s warning to new