GWM to triple EV lineup in Australia
Speaking at the launch of the 2025 GWM Haval H6 SUV in Melbourne, GWM Australia chief operating officer John Kett outlined the brand's plans.
'We certainly have an EV story to share next year,' Mr Kett told media, including CarExpert. 'Fast-paced portfolio change is important, and segment expansion of that portfolio, which we've demonstrated.'
'We've got one EV today, [but] I would say by the third quarter next year, [we'll have] three.'
Deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
Mr Kett wouldn't elaborate on which EVs would be introduced here, but the brand has confirmed it's testing an electric dual-cab ute in China.
There may also be a mid-size SUV – slightly smaller than the recently refreshed Haval H6 – in the works, after the automaker showed a pre-production 'Haval New SUV' battery-electric test car in China earlier this year.
Another possibility is the Ora Sport sedan, a rival to the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal, which was shown to local media in 2024.
The only other EV that GWM currently offers in China is the rather twee Ora Ballet Cat, heavily inspired by the original Volkswagen Beetle and featuring unusual features such as Warm Man Mode.
In contrast with rival Chinese brands like MG that have offered multiple electric SUVs, GWM hasn't offered any and instead its EV efforts have traditionally been focused on small hatchbacks.
In 2023, GWM introduced its first and currently only EV in Australia, the Ora.
Known as the GWM Ora 03 or Ora Good Cat overseas, the MG 4 and BYD Dolphin rival is currently priced at $33,990 drive-away for the Standard Range model grade. That makes it among the cheapest EVs on sale in Australia.
The Ora alone was enough to see GWM the tenth-best-selling EV brand in Australia in 2024, with its total sales including hybrid and diesel models seeing it ranked tenth overall, too.
Year-to-date, GWM has improved to seventh – knocking off MG as the most popular Chinese brand, with BYD snapping at GWM's heels in eighth, fewer than 2000 sales behind.
Sales of the Ora are down, however, with 331 sales to the end of June 2025 seeing GWM ranked 17th in EV sales, behind Toyota (427 sales) but barely ahead of Ford (315).
While GWM is among market leaders in terms of hybrids, with plug-in versions of its Cannon Alpha ute as well as its Haval H6 GT SUV.
In currently has two PHEVs on sale here – with its Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Ford Everest rival, the Tank 500 PHEV due later by the end of 2025 – alongside four conventional hybrids in local showrooms.
The introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) this year – which includes fines for automakers whose lineup exceeds carbon-dioxide emission limits – makes the case for hybrids yet stronger.
'The only way to comply is to start bringing in technology that transitions people from petrol-diesel into EVs, and we think plug and hybrid is the way to go as a transition,' said Mr Kett.
'We have to resolve EV, but not to the degree that people would think,' Mr Kett said. 'Certainly by 2030, we've got to be 80 per cent PHEV and EV, and 20 per cent diesel. That's what we've been saying … we've got the best pathway to get there.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Man who won $600m from Albanese government for PNG rugby league embroiled in corruption scandal
The chairman of the successful bid for Papua New Guinea's new rugby league franchise faces corruption concerns involving a Chinese company – after the Albanese government poured $600 million of taxpayers money into the scheme to ward off Beijing's influence in the Pacific. The claims involve a company owned by powerful PNG businessman Wapu Sonk, who led the Pacific Island nation's bid to join the National Rugby League and in June was appointed a director of the country's new franchise. But evidence unearthed by this masthead raises serious questions about whether Sonk sought to benefit personally from his power as the chief of PNG's national oil company. The evidence, which relates to his business dealings not the NRL bid, includes confidential documents and corporate records and links Sonk's company to suspect dealings with a massive Chinese government firm and a plot to funnel contracts to a company Sonk owns in Australia. Sonk, who has refused to answer questions about the issue, is also facing scrutiny over his use of a multimillion-dollar Brisbane property owned by an Australian businessman whose firm has been awarded lucrative contracts by the top oil company which Sonk heads. Sonk has been heralded as a central player in the NRL expansion deal announced in December by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese alongside his PNG counterpart, James Marape, that will see the team join the competition in 2028. Labor has committed $600 million in taxpayer funding to finance the deal, with the funds to be spent mostly in PNG with the guidance of Sonk and his fellow directors and oversight from the Australian Rugby League Commission. The Albanese government has backed the deal as a means of countering China's strategic, security and economic influence in PNG – a fact which raises further questions about Sonk's company's dealings with a Beijing-backed firm. Sonk's power and influence – and the reason he became a key player in the NRL deal – flow from his position as the head of PNG's biggest company, the state-owned national oil company, Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited. If Sonk sought to use Kumul Petroleum to cut deals with a Chinese government entity in order to personally profit, it would involve precisely the type of dealmaking the Albanese government was seeking to counter when it inked the deal it negotiated with Sonk to expand the NRL into Port Moresby. The multibillion-dollar company is responsible for boosting PNG's economic and social welfare via its mandated stake in key energy projects. Sonk has helmed Kumul Petroleum as managing director for 10 years, giving him huge political and business sway as well as influence over overseas companies chasing contracts in PNG. Kumul Petroleum's long-standing funding of rugby league in PNG has made Sonk into a kingmaker in the local sport landscape. The corruption concerns involve Kumul Petroleum's $30 million project to build new oil tank facilities at a key PNG international port, the Motukea Main Wharf. In 2024, the Sonk-led Kumul Petroleum awarded the contract to a Chinese Communist Party-controlled firm involved in mega projects around the world, the China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation. In December, Sonk told the PNG press that Kumul Petroleum was spending 'significant' funds on the project to 'put in place critical infrastructure ... which is so important for our economy and development as a country'. But a leaked Kumul Petroleum letter suggests Sonk may have also been seeking to benefit himself. The letter, obtained by this masthead, details a demand from Kumul Petroleum – on its official letterhead – to the China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation. The March 12 letter tells the Chinese-government firm that Kumul expected it to hire two 'designated' Australian companies in order to carry out the port project and that this is in keeping with a 'prior agreement' extracted by Kumul Petroleum during its negotiations with the Beijing company. 'We would like to formally confirm that, as previously discussed and agreed upon, the renovation and upgrade work at Motukea Main Wharf of PNG Motukea Fuel Facility Project shall be carried out by the designated companies,' the Kumul Petroleum letter states. The request from Kumul Petroleum to the Chinese government contractor contains a veiled commercial threat that if it did not hire the 'designated' Australian companies, it might jeopardise its relationship with PNG's national oil company. 'We kindly request your cooperation in ensuring that the execution of these works aligns with our prior agreements. Any deviation from the agreed-upon plan could potentially impact the project's overall success and our collaborative efforts,' the letter states. Missing from the letter is a key detail: one of the two 'designated' companies put forward in Kumul Petroleum's letter of demand, PNG Developments Pty Ltd, is privately owned in Australia by Wapu Sonk. 'Specifically, the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) work shall be executed by PNG Developments PTY LTD,' the Kumul Petroleum letter states without disclosing that the Australian firm's sole shareholder is Sonk. The second designated firm is FSB Consulting, which this masthead has confirmed is owned by one of Sonk's senior employees at Kumul Petroleum, Australian-born Jason Pollock. 'The Project Management Consultancy (PMC) work shall be handled by FSB Consulting Pty Ltd,' states the March 2025 letter, which is signed by Pollock is his capacity as 'Projects Director: Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited'. As is the case with Sonk's private firm, there is no mention in the Kumul Petroleum letter that Pollock owns FSB. Called this week, Pollock denied knowing his boss, Sonk, was the owner of PNG Developments Pty Ltd. 'I would find it hard to believe that Sonk owns that company,' Pollock said. 'That would surprise me … I'm quite taken back (sic) by that suggestion.' When later sent a shareholding document by this masthead that proved Sonk's ownership of the firm, Pollock responded with an emoji of an angry red face swearing. When Pollock was pressed as to why he wrote to the Chinese in March instructing them to use PNG Developments Pty Ltd if he did not know who owned it, he said: 'I can't remember.' He also said he could 'not remember' who directed him to nominate PNG Developments Pty Ltd as one of the two firms the Chinese government company was expected to use, but suggested it may have been a senior engineer working for the Chinese Communist Party-controlled corporation. Pressed about the seeming promotion of his privately owned firm, Pollock said it 'looks stinky' and was a 'conflict of interest'. Pollock claimed he had 'retracted' the Kumul Petroleum letter of demand after: 'I saw the error of my ways.' Pollock also claimed he had personally discussed the letter with Sonk and that Sonk had warned him about conflicts of interest, albeit while never revealing his ownership of PNG Developments Pty Ltd. Pollock insisted he was not a friend of Sonk, who Pollock called 'the big fella'. But he said he had travelled to a Chinese energy conference in Beijing with Sonk in May as part of a delegation including senior PNG politicians. Pollock had also travelled to Shanghai with Sonk on a separate trip, he said. Pollock said during an interview that he was 'happy' for any allegations of wrongdoing linked to the port deal 'to be investigated'. Sonk was sent detailed questions on Tuesday, including whether he had any knowledge of, or involvement in, sending the letter, but declined to answer them. 'These are serious questions and I prefer a lawyer to speak to you on my behalf,' Sonk said in a message on Tuesday. He did not respond further, although his lawyers on Wednesday wrote to this masthead saying: 'Our client denies any and all allegations of improper or unlawful conduct that you assert.' There is no suggestion by this masthead that Sonk directed Pollock to send the letter to the Chinese firm, only that the circumstances of the letter warrant further scrutiny because of Sonk's ownership of PNG Developments. There is no evidence that the two firms privately owned by Sonk or Pollock ever actually received any funds or contracts from the Chinese company. An Australian government spokesman said it had zero tolerance for corruption and any allegations of corrupt behaviour should be referred to appropriate authorities. The spokesman, in a statement, said the agreements between the government, the ARL Commission and PNG's NRL franchise had 'strong anti-fraud and corruption protections'. ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys said he had not previously heard any adverse allegations about Sonk and that the league would be guided by 'any court case which tests these allegations'. Sonk also declined to answer questions about his use of a multimillion-dollar Brisbane home owned by an Australian businessman whose company has won contracts from Kumul Petroleum. Corporate records reveal that Hamid Ronagh is the part owner – via a company – of the Indooroopilly property used by Sonk and one of his close associates, a PNG woman, to register companies and also to live in. Ronagh's Australian firm, Neobuild, has won contracts in PNG awarded by Kumul Petroleum. Pollock told this masthead that Neobuild had won a large contract on the Motukea wharf project. Ronagh confirmed to this masthead that Sonk was renting his Brisbane property. But Ronagh did not respond to a request to provide evidence that Sonk had paid to use the property and did not respond to questions about whether the arrangement was appropriate given Neobuild's commercial dealings with Kumul Petroleum. Sonk also did not respond to questions about why he was using the Brisbane property and the extent, if any, of his private dealings with Ronagh. This masthead is not suggesting that Ronagh has provided inducements to Sonk, or that Sonk has sought them. Rather, the apparent private commercial relationship between the pair raises questions about conflicts of interest that remain unanswered given the pair's failure to answer questions. While Sonk's involvement in suspect dealings in his capacity as national oil company chief do not extend to his role leading PNG's rugby league bid, they do raise questions about his ongoing role as director of PNG's new NRL franchise. Sonk was a VIP guest of the NRL in Australia when the new team was announced and gave interviews to Australian reporters claiming the new franchise would sign up one million members, or more than the rest of the competition teams combined. One league reporter wrote that the PNG NRL deal had transformed Sonk into 'one of the game's most powerful figures'. Sonk is one of seven directors variously nominated by the ARL commission and PNG government to the board that will oversee the addition of a new team to the NRL competition in 2028. V'landys said Sonk was among the selections of the PNG government, while the commission's nominations included chairman and Canterbury Bulldogs powerbroker Ray Dib. He said the commission conducted background checks on nominated directors. The NRL agreed to the historic expansion into PNG at the behest of Albanese, who was eager to deliver it as a boost to Marape to shore up security ties with Australia's closest neighbour and ward off China's efforts to further its influence in the Pacific. Of the $600 million committed by the Albanese government over 10 years, $290 million will go towards the establishment and operation of the PNG team, with $250 million channelled into the development of rugby league in the Pacific and $60 million to be divided between existing NRL clubs as a licence fee. As an added layer of oversight, the commission will be responsible overseeing the distribution of the $600 million of taxpayer funds. However, there have been concerns that the PNG deal would inevitably be exposed to governance risks given that corruption is endemic in the Pacific. 'It's in this type of corrupted environment that you're going to be exposed to these kind of situations,' one observer said. A second source with deep connections into the federal government and the NRL said the NRL-PNG deal was always a bad idea given the potential for it to fuel corruption. A third source, a senior official in PNG, said the Australian government funds were 'better spent on health and education'. Sonk's lawyers said their client's role as a director of the new PNG-NRL franchise was appropriate. 'Our client is one member of a board of directors of the proposed franchisee. That board comprises a group of highly experienced and well-regarded individuals (including retired professional NRL players) that collectively bring significant expertise to their oversight responsibilities, and decisions are made through proper and robust governance processes,' they said. The Australian government's bankrolling of rugby league in the Pacific has alarmed rugby union chiefs in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, who have formed new links with China amid concerns that their national game could be cannibalised by a foreign taxpayer-backed rival code.
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Kevin Hogan says Anthony Albanese's lack of action to meet with Trump a ‘real shame' amid PM's trip to China
It is a 'real shame' Anthony Albanese does not have the 'same exuberance' about meeting with Donald Trump as he does Xi Jinping, the shadow Trade Minister says, describing the Prime Minister's mission to China as a 'working holiday'. Kevin Hogan made the comments as Mr Albanese prepared to arrive back on home soil after a six-day charm offensive in China where he focused on stabilising Australia's relationship with its key trading partner. During the tour Mr Albanese met with Mr Xi, his fourth meeting with the Chinese President, as well as Premier Li Qiang and National People's Congress chairman Zhao Leji, in a bid to strengthen the country's economic ties. Mr Hogan said it was important Mr Albanese made the visit, but added: 'I think it's a shame he doesn't have the same exuberance, if you like, to meet with the US President and go to the US, but that's something we need to work on'. He acknowledged Mr Albanese was working to secure a meeting with Mr Trump and said it was 'important we continue to reach out'. 'I think it's good the Prime Minister went to China, I think it's good that he did the panda thing and re-enacted Gough Whitlam's Great Wall of China visit. I don't have a criticism of that,' he said on Friday. 'They are an important trading partner, I'm glad the Prime Minister has visited there and been there for that reason. I'm just adding it's a real shame he doesn't have the same exuberance about doing that with the US President.' Opposition Finance Minister James Paterson on Thursday slammed the trip, saying though the Coalition had provided bipartisan support for the Government's trade mission, the visit had started to look 'a little bit indulgent'. Senator Paterson argued the appropriate time to do a 'nostalgic history tour of Labor Party mythology' was in retirement, not after failing to meet the US President since his election. Mr Albanese has come under intense pressure to lock in a meeting with Mr Trump after the Pentagon called a snap review into the future of the AUKUS pact. Mr Trump's trade tariffs have also been a sore point. 'We have profoundly serious issues at stake in that bilateral relationship as well, including potentially tariffs on one of our largest export industries to the United States, pharmaceuticals,' Senator Paterson said. Asked if Mr Albanese got the 'tone and balance right' with his trip, shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor said he was 'still trying to work out what he's coming home with'. 'He went down memory lane, listened to some Midnight Oil and went in the footsteps of Gough Whitlam, but we need more than that,' he said. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek on Friday said stabilising Australia's relationship with China 'has been important particularly for our farmers, our grain growers, our wine makers, our lobster fishermen'. 'The fact that the Prime Minister is in China at the moment shows the Australian Government's commitment to making sure that it continues to be a strong economic relationship,' she told the ABC. 'The Prime Minister's had a roundtable about our iron ore exports to China. 'The iron ore that Australia exports is the largest source of foreign iron ore in China. We know how important steelmaking is for the modern economy. 'The Prime Minister's visited a tourism business. Chinese tourism to Australia is the largest source of tourism by value, it's worth more than $9 billion a year already. 'And so, people should see the potential benefits of increasing China's tourism to Australia. The hundreds of millions or billions of dollars of extra spending it will feed into the Australian economy as we see Chinese tourism increase.'
The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
Albanese's China challenge: balancing trade and values
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is back in Australia after a week in China. Did he come home with more than he had when he left? Yes and no. Albanese can say he met Chinese President Xi Jinping for two hours of talks, had a banquet lunch, magnificent dinners (Paul Kelly and Powderfinger songs!) and basically mended the rift from the Scott Morrison years. The two leaders were warm in their comments towards each country. Albanese can take this as an embrace, giving rise to a feeling as warm and fuzzy as watching a panda frolic in the sun. Albanese's week was an act of diplomacy that was necessary to Australia's economic wellbeing. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, China is Australia's largest two-way trading partner. Trade with China in 2023-24 accounted for 26 per cent of our goods and services trade with the world. Two-way trade with China totalled $325 billion, of which goods and services exports were $212.7 billion. Iron ore exports to China last year alone were worth $US79.6 billion ($121 billion). The seeming harmony of the past week is a far cry from the years of Morrison's government, when China placed trade bans worth about $20 billion on exports over what it saw as Australia's hostility towards it, partly due to Morrison's view on the origins of COVID-19, though this was never the stated reason. The sanctions have since been lifted. The thawing of this latest Cold War between Australia and China should be seen as but one front on the bilateral battlefield. While it is true, as French historian Montesquieu wrote 300 years ago, that 'peace is a natural effect of trade', it is not the only factor. In dealing with China, a set of scales is always on the table. On one side is the money and trade-derived wealth, on the other is the very nature of the regime, that is, its authoritarianism, its geopolitical ambitions, its treatment of its people and minority groups within its borders, including its suppression of human rights and dissent.
