Damn... i should have waited and saved $11,000!!!

[anzac_77]

Just when i was sitting there feeling smug about how good a deal i got on my SX, now this comes along...

http://brisbanetimes.drive.com.au/motor ... 1a7yv.html

lol

[Dire]

The top one looks better than a proton at least.
The smallest one looks pathetic though. Why do many makers have to make small cars look like stuffed animals. It doesn't even fit with the design theme of the other 2 cars pictured.

I doubt I'll be seeing many of them around. I see next-to-no protons around.

[mil098]

that's it, forget the Lancer, I'm off to WA to pick one of these beauties up!

[SXLancerMum]

I wouldn't waste the money going to WA. Apparently they're not allowed to be sold in any other state yet.

I heard they're not very well colour co-ordinated either.

I reckon we did better getting the Lancers

And would you believe the ad at the bottom of this thread when I posted was about Great Walls? Hmmm it would be nice if they advertised Mitsubishis on here eh

[anzac_77]

LOL... i also saw that the new proton is a clone of the CJ...

[SXLancerMum]

They always copy all the good stuff

[dannyboi]

Don't think I'd ever consider getting a Chinese-made car. The only thing I would hope for is competition between the manufacturers, so they do more value-for-money deals. A couple of years ago, a Golf at a Corolla price seemed a bit far-fetched.

I've seen a couple of Great Wall X240s around. They look OK, and are better than driving an older car for the same price I suppose.

[LZY_EYE]

It will be interesting to see if the chinese cars end up as popular as korean.

I remember when the excel was the cheapest thing on the market at $13990.

Most of Holdens line up now is korean. Lots of Nissans are not made in Japan, along with Mitsu and you even have BMWs being made in South Africa.

I wonder if we will see some of the mainstream brands move their manufacturing of their cars to China as well.

[BeHaV3]

Don't think I'd ever consider getting a Chinese-made car. The only thing I would hope for is competition between the manufacturers, so they do more value-for-money deals. A couple of years ago, a Golf at a Corolla price seemed a bit far-fetched.

I've seen a couple of Great Wall X240s around. They look OK, and are better than driving an older car for the same price I suppose.

Wait 10 years. 10 years ago the Kia people mover has exploding engines, now that Kia Optima is more than a match for the "holden" equivalent.

As for Chinese today. "better than driving an older car"? The X240s are imported by Ateco, the same mob importing exploding Kias 10 years ago. The standards the commercial vehicles need to meet are lower than passenger cars. I beleive the Great Walls with their 1 star crash rating woudl be inferior to a 2 year old Falcon/Commodore/Lancer in a crash for similar money. If it were my family, I would not want them in a Great Wall. Safety will improve, but not just yet. The Chinese passenger vehicles, from a safety point of view, will be superior to the commercials, however I think I might select a 10 year old Subaru as a good, potentially better match. Again...wait & watch, the gap will close withing 10 years.

[Nick07]

John Hughes dominates a large amount of the car sales within Western Australia, he's worth a serious amount of money. He must think he's onto another winner....

All these car companies are trying to break into the market and they clearly think there is a gap within the lower end of the market, unfortunately I believe that it appeals to new drivers because of the cheap price and they are the ones who really should have the 5 star ANCAP rated vehicles.

[LZY_EYE]

Besides that, all the technology is the same as the 10 year old Subie.

The petrol engine in the X240 was pulled from the first gen Outlander!

The utes are based on a Holden / Isuzu from 10 years ago.

Once it is financially viable for them to start doing a lot more R&D they will continue to use past technology that they do not need to develop themselves.

The companies such as Mitsu etc love it too. It is like money for nothing to them for selling the licence to technology they don't use anymore.

[Tarquin]

I was going to say - Check the ANCAP rating - I had heard that they were pretty poor....
For the money, I'd prefer a safer 2nd hand car than a cheap new one that isn't going to help much in a crash.

The Panda car is a bit cute, and vomit at the same time....

[SXLancerMum]

As for Chinese today. "better than driving an older car"? The X240s are imported by Ateco, the same mob importing exploding Kias 10 years ago. The standards the commercial vehicles need to meet are lower than passenger cars. I beleive the Great Walls with their 1 star crash rating woudl be inferior to a 2 year old Falcon/Commodore/Lancer in a crash for similar money. If it were my family, I would not want them in a Great Wall. Safety will improve, but not just yet. The Chinese passenger vehicles, from a safety point of view, will be superior to the commercials, however I think I might select a 10 year old Subaru as a good, potentially better match. Again...wait & watch, the gap will close withing 10 years.

The Great Wall X240 actually has a rating of 4 stars. I checked it last week when my BIL was raving about how good it was.