Chinese brand improving Australian parts supply, but says there’s a “disconnect in expectations”
Australia is being inundated with new auto brands and while they’re attracting plenty of customers, undoubtedly others are staying away because of the uncertainty inherent in buying from an unknown brand.
That includes not only resale value but also aftersales support, in particular the availability of spare parts.
One of Australia’s newest brands – Xpeng – started delivering cars here in August 2024, and its local distributor TrueEV says it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Chinese marque.
“We’ve certainly got some growth pains that we’ve got to resolve from time to time. Availability of stock, availability of parts, they’re forever a challenge,” TrueEV CEO Jason Clarke told CarExpert.
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“There’s just a disconnect in expectations often. Again with a new brand, in our first shipment, we had customers in Darwin and in Hobart and everything in between.
“Customers have every right to expect that there should be a full supply of parts should there be an issue.
“So the challenge is to make sure that you can meet that, but it’s a very long bridge to make on that and that’s because you go… from no cars off the road and no demand to 30 cars off the road and significant demand for various parts.”
Some incoming brands have worked to assure sceptical customers by publicising how they’ll ensure timely support.
GAC, for example, has touted its Melbourne parts warehouse and its ability to readily supply repair parts and consumables, while Denza is boasting it’ll use its sister brand BYD’s existing parts supply infrastructure.
TrueEV says there can be variance in availability and timing for certain components.
“The delivery of parts and the time expectation can shift depending on what it is. So you might be fine for some parts, consumables, but others not,” he said.
“The time lag is therefore literally the same day to maybe six weeks, depending on the availability of getting it flown or shipped out of China. But what we find is that that time delay is getting less and less.
“As our footprint grows, and all of our locations having a supply of parts and our service centres having a ready supply as well, the wait time just comes down pretty quickly.”
TrueEV partnered with Ultra Tune for both servicing and roadside assistance. This allows its vehicles to be serviced across the network.
A partnership like this is crucial for a brand that doesn’t yet have a retail presence in all states and territories – in Xpeng’s case, it has yet to open locations in South Australia, the Northern Territory or the ACT, though they’re in the pipeline.
Helping TrueEV manage Xpeng parts supply is the fact the brand offers just one model locally, at least for now: the mid-size G6 electric SUV.
“I think for the brand, the focus on the G6 has been helpful,” said Mr Clarke.
“I think it helps consumers to see more than one model, so we would have liked to have seen more models earlier, that’s somewhat out of our control. Obviously to homologate vehicles and get them through Australian Design Rules quickly, that’s been quite intensive for us in the early days, but we were able to do that for the G6.
“To have more models builds more trust in the brand. It brings different types of consumers, a different spread of consumers.”
More Xpeng models will come in 2026. In addition to an updated G6, the larger G9L SUV and X9 people mover will join local Xpeng showrooms next year.
But don’t expect TrueEV to be distracted by any other brands, as it says it’s wholly focussed on Xpeng.
“We get asked regularly if we would take on other brands because they like what we’ve done for Xpeng, but no we’re exclusive to Xpeng, and that’s helped us to focus on that and we’ve been responsible for all the marketing of the brand as distributor and retailer,” he explained.
“So we’ll stick to that and make sure we can optimise Xpeng in market.”
TrueEV says it has delivered over 2000 Xpengs since launching the brand here in August 2024. It doesn’t currently report its sales to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries or the Electric Vehicle Council, though this is set to change.
“In short, we don’t have authority to [report sales] as yet. So having said that, I think you’ll find early in the new year that they’ll be officially reported,” explained Mr Clarke.
The company is also planning to expand its retail network from 18 locations to “at least” 25 by the end of 2026.
“We’re very, very happy with the achievement and very happy with the numbers,” said Mr Clarke.
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