Aiways plans Australian launch

Following the reveal of its new U6 fastback SUV, Chinese car-maker Aiways has reaffirmed its intention to launch in Australia in the near future, describing our market as being a “very attractive” one for sustainable mobility providers and manufacturers.

Speaking to carsales this week, Aiways Europe communication, PR and political affairs director Bernd Abel admitted Australia wouldn’t be the first right-hand drive market the brand entered, but confirmed plans were most definitely in place.

“We will start production of right-hand-driven cars within the next months and will start selling the cars in the respective markets,” he said.

“As Australia is such, we for sure think of it [launching Down Under]”.

“With its breathtaking natural beauty, environmental awareness and forward-thinking policies, Australia is very attractive for a manufacturer of sustainable mobility like Aiways.”

That attractiveness is marred somewhat by our present lack of charging infrastructure, something Abel said “must grow with the demands”.

With just two models in its current global line-up, Aiways’ Australian launch will almost undoubtedly be led by the Aiways U5 mid-size SUV and its coupe-style Aiways U6 sibling.

The local introduction of both these models will immediately put it at odds with established favourites like the Kia EV6, Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Polestar 2, not to mention the best-selling Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.

Sharing the same in-house developed architecture, the U5 and U6 are powered by a single 160kW/310Nm electric motor that draws current from a 63kWh battery pack.

The resulting 400-410km driving ranges and circa-7.0sec 0-100km/h acceleration times aren’t anything to write home about and would position the Chinese newcomers against lower-end variants of the aforementioned ranges.

Pricing should be where the Airways strike back initially at least, however, the brand has confirmed the MAS platform is both scalable and modular in nature and that plans are already in place for more powerful and longer-range variants, not to mention other models.

Abel didn’t provide carsales with a concrete timeline of Aiways’ Australian plans, but the now-confirmed 2023 UK launch and imminent RHD production start bode well for local consumers, suggesting both the U5 and U6 could be in local showrooms within the next year or so.

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