[LuciferDarklord]

Hyundai has overtaken Mazda to become the 4th best manufacturer is Australia...  Interesting to see Great Wall Motors sold 274 units in July.  Who would buy one of these things until such time as there is at least some local feedback.   Maybe the Chinese Embassy bought a fleet?

http://www.caradvice.com.au/37704/new-vehicle-sales-figures-july-2009/

http://www.caradvice.com.au/37635/hyundai-sales-jump-in-to-fourth-spot/

[Dazzler]

That is very interesting thanks L-D ..if no-one else has found it yet I'll try and find the top ten best selling cars and see how the i30 scored in that list..

[jason117]

The dealership where I work is a Great Wall Motors dealer, and we've sold about a dozen of them so far. I cant speak on the quality ( or lack thereof ) yet as it's too early to tell.
The Kia Pregio vans were a horrible disaster of a thing, but they sold in huge numbers to tradesmen after a cheap work hack. And so now quite a few tradies have been in to look over the Great Walls....

[Dazzler]

The top ten selling vehicles for the month of July 09 (in Australia) were:

Toyota Corolla (3891),
Holden Commodore (3856),
Ford Falcon (2837),
Mazda3 (2785),
Toyota Hilux (2563),
Hyundai Getz (2147),
Mitsubishi Lancer (2129),
Hyundai i30 (2045),
Holden Cruze (1982),
Toyota Camry (4 cyl) (1717).


A bit disappointing - but I think supply is a bit of an issue still (particularly with the Diesel)

from this source

http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2009/july-vfacts-corolla-by-a-nose-falcon-back-in-third-16127

[LuciferDarklord]

How anyone could buy one of those Daewoo (Holden) Cruze has got be buggered.  The Craptiva and Epic-a Disaster are shocking, but they have the lion on the grill which seems to be enough for the average redneck.

[MRH130]

How anyone could buy one of those Daewoo (Holden) Cruze has got be buggered.  The Craptiva and Epic-a Disaster are shocking, but they have the lion on the grill which seems to be enough for the average redneck.

Amen, brother. Having gone and had a look at one, they have a Daewoo body and electronics and a slightly evolved Astra 1.8 petrol, which is really the worst of both worlds. I wouldn't drive one if you gave it to me. It never ceases to amaze (and infuriate) me that certain companies can sell unmitigated shite by the bucketful by trading off an image they got 40 years ago before the Japanese started building proper cars and showing the world that oil leaks and "failures to proceed" aren't a mandatory part of life.

The Barina (Daewoo Kalos) is a case in point. Daewoo couldn't give them away, but stick a Holden badge on the front of it and people will line up around the block to buy the crap. Admittedly, they're not selling anywhere near as many of them as Hyundai sells Getzes, but the fact that ANYBODY will lay down their hard-earned ca$h on a Gaywoo just because it has a lion on it makes me fear for the future of humanity.

Sorry, I'm a bit cranky today and that's one of my favourite hobby horses.  Daewoo/Holdens are one of the main reasons I got out of the car industry. 

Toyota Corolla (3891),
Holden Commodore (3856),
Ford Falcon (2837),
Mazda3 (2785),
Toyota Hilux (2563),
Hyundai Getz (2147),
Mitsubishi Lancer (2129),
Hyundai i30 (2045),
Holden Cruze (1982),
Toyota Camry (4 cyl) (1717).

A bit disappointing - but I think supply is a bit of an issue still (particularly with the Diesel)

It's not number 1 yet Dazz but it's pretty good, and considering the number of people who won't even consider a Hyundai I reckcon it's mighty impressive. The previous 2 months the i30 actually outsold the Getz here and that marks a big demographic shift for Hyundai. They're starting to be recognised as a legitimate player.

I don't know about anyone else, but every person who's been for a ride in Crystal has been hugely impressed - but most of them would never have considered a Hyundai if they hadn't been exposed to one. They're still working their way in to the car-buyer's psyche over here.

Also in that list you have to consider how many of those cars were fleet cars. I suspect that if you take out the fleet cars it would be closer to:

Corolla
Commodore
Mazda3
Lancer
i30
Getz
Cruze
Falcon

Certainly there are a lot of fleet cars clouding the figures for some models in the list. I find private sales a more interesting indicator, but it's harder to find the figures...

[MRH130]

The dealership where I work is a Great Wall Motors dealer, and we've sold about a dozen of them so far. I cant speak on the quality ( or lack thereof ) yet as it's too early to tell.
The Kia Pregio vans were a horrible disaster of a thing, but they sold in huge numbers to tradesmen after a cheap work hack. And so now quite a few tradies have been in to look over the Great Walls....

I've been going to go and take a Great Wall for a drive, but haven't got around to it yet. I went and had a look, found them sorta interesting but I don't like the way they've blatantly stolen technology and styling from other manufacturers without any rights. And that's before one gets to the philosophical objection to the way the Chinese government behaves...

It's heaps of fun looking over them picking where they've stolen the bits from. I spotted TF/R9 Rodeo shell, RA Rodeo dashboard, D22 Navara type headlights and Toyota 18R motor in the cheap one and RA Rodeo shell and dashboard with what looks to me like a Mitsubishi Saturn engine in the expensive one. Even the guy at the dealership said none of it is licenced... 

[snowcherry]

good going for hyundai
i do have to wonder if the financial crisis has actually helped though as people start looking at 'cheaper' alternatives

great wall will possibly do fairly well to through industry sectors

[jason117]

If you want to see some blatant copyright infringements, go to Great Walls "Home" site...

http://www.gwm.com.cn/eng/html/models/models.asp

Here you'll see copies of Mazda B'series utes, toyota yaris' and some really strange car names. Good for a laugh I guess.

[LuciferDarklord]

It makes me wonder if in 20 or 30 years there will be a loyal website like this following a Great Wall model - and if they can make it up like the ladder like Hyundai has.  Somehow I doubt it, purely because in the '60s, '70s and '80s Japan really busted their arses to make quality goods, not just cheap ripoffs.  Same thing in '80s, '90s and '00s for Korea (look at Samsung and their now cutting edge LED TV's)  But the Chinese have had a good 5-10 year run at manufacturing and they are still hit and miss on the quality front - and mainly miss unfortunately.

[Dazzler]

Thanks for that link Jason.. I've saved it in my favourites under "funnies" 

[Lakes]

The Japs, have been coppying for years as we all know, but the funniest think i ever saw was, this old copy of an old flat head Harley the japs got the bluepints of the bike but they mixed up measurements and it was 20% larger than the Harley they copied, i saw one of these bikes it is huge. this was done many years ago. but interesting to see.
they also copied american cars back in the 30's i think.

[MRH130]

The Japs, have been coppying for years as we all know, but the funniest think i ever saw was, this old copy of an old flat head Harley the japs got the bluepints of the bike but they mixed up measurements and it was 20% larger than the Harley they copied, i saw one of these bikes it is huge. this was done many years ago. but interesting to see.
they also copied american cars back in the 30's i think.

As I said somewhere else on here the Japanese, for the most part, improved the technology they got from other manufacturers (Datsun for instance) and at least they actually licensed the designs from the original owners of them...

I'd love to see one of those oversized Harley copies, given that Harleys are hardly small bikes as it is - would have been interesting when one of the (presumably small-ish) Japanese manufacturers tried to ride one of them...  I'm a big boy and I sometimes struggle with my big BMW tourer - I don't know how you'd go with an oversized Harley...

It makes me wonder if in 20 or 30 years there will be a loyal website like this following a Great Wall model - and if they can make it up like the ladder like Hyundai has.  Somehow I doubt it, purely because in the '60s, '70s and '80s Japan really busted their arses to make quality goods, not just cheap ripoffs.  Same thing in '80s, '90s and '00s for Korea (look at Samsung and their now cutting edge LED TV's)  But the Chinese have had a good 5-10 year run at manufacturing and they are still hit and miss on the quality front - and mainly miss unfortunately.

I somehow doubt it, but then I once proclaimed loud and proud that I would never buy a Korean car after having had to deal with the early Hyundais in Australia... and I've had to eat humble pie on that one - now owning my 4th Hyundai...

It seems to me that there is a different attitude to manufacturing in Japan and Korea to that in China. The Japanese and Koreans seem very focussed on producing the best product they can, and consider it a matter of pride. The Korean Hyundai people I have met take the quality of their cars very seriously and take it as a personal failure when there is a problem.

It seems to me that that sort of business culture is the one to buy your products from. I do worry about the quality of a car made in a business culture that would put lead in children's toys or melamine in children's milk simply to make it pass some test. I'm sure we've all been to the el-cheapo stores and bought crappy stuff made in China that falls apart about 2 weeks after you buy it. Having said that, my el-cheapo Chinese TV is still going strong after 4 years...

A $200 telly is one thing though - you're playing for keeps when you start spending $25000 on a new vehicle... 

New Vehicle Sales July 2009, taken from http://www.caradvice.com.au/37704/new-vehicle-sales-figures-july-2009/
1    Toyota    16664
2    Holden    10266
3    Ford    7783
4    Hyundai    6226
5    Mazda    6024
6    Mitsubishi    4166
7    Nissan    3756
8    Subaru    2807
9    Honda    2657
10    Volkswagen    2361
11    Kia    1497
12    Mercedes-Benz    1429
13    BMW    1421
14    Suzuki    1283
15    Audi    943
16    Lexus    472
17    Peugeot    443
18    Volvo    360
19    Land Rover    340
20    Great Wall Motors    274
21    Jeep    249
22    Isuzu Ute    223
23    Renault    187
24    MINI    173
25    Citroen    161
26    Chrysler    160
27    Fiat    139
28    Proton    123
29    Dodge    117
30    Porsche    100
31    Alfa Romeo    96
32    Saab    79
33    Skoda    74
34    Jaguar    65
35    Ssangyong    54
36    Smart    28
37    Hummer    25
38    Ferrari    13
39    Maserati    10
40    Lotus    5
41    Aston Martin    3
42    Bentley    1
43    Lamborghini    1
44    Morgan    0
45    Maybach    0
46    Caterham    0
47    Rolls-Royce    0

We can see that Hyundai is well above Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda

[snowcherry]

^didn't expect the Aston Martin to be quite that low

they're so perrty