THEY first appeared here in July last year. Now, Chinese cars are the most popular make after Japanese, Korean, German and American brands.
In the first nine months of the year, 1,000 cars from the Chery, Geely and Hafei families were registered here, according to figures just released by the Land Transport Authority.
That gives them a 1.2 per cent slice of the market - equalling or exceeding the shares of more established brands from countries such as Malaysia, Sweden, Italy, France and Britain.
Although Chinese cars still have a long way to go to catch up with the Germans in third spot, with about 7,000 cars, they could soon match American sales of around 2,000.
'This is just like what the Chinese did to the consumer electronics market,' said Mr Lee Nian Tjoe, editor of motoring magazine Torque. 'Everywhere you look these days, there are China-made DVD players, TV sets and hi-fis.'
The best-seller among Chinese cars is Chery, which was first to arrive, and which has the widest product range with five models available.
It put 491 cars on the road in the first nine months. Geely, which first rolled onto the roads last November, is the No. 2 brand. Despite having only one model available, it sold 397 units. Hafei is third with 107 units.
'This is just the beginning,' said Mr Kevin Kwee, executive director of Group Exklusiv, the group behind the Geely and Dongfeng dealerships.
'We witnessed the phenomenon of the Japanese five decades ago, the Koreans three decades ago,' Mr Kwee noted. 'The time it took the Koreans to be established was much shorter than what it took the Japanese. I am sure the Chinese will take even less time. In five years' time, they will be a major player.'
Indeed, trade observers reckon the Chinese and parallel imports have eroded the sales performances of cars which were once considered top budget choices. These include the Korean Malaysian cars, as well as base models from the Japanese, such as the Nissan Sunny.
Detractors however believe it is too early to gauge the success of Chinese brands in the long run. Durability, crashworthiness and product recalls are some of the concerns.
Nevertheless, more Chinese brands are on their way. By this time next year, at least five more brands are expected to debut.
Meanwhile, parallel importers have brought in Japanese cars which are surprisingly competitive, even when compared with Chinese brands. Two of them - the Suzuki Every and Daihatsu Hijet - are selling for less than $40,000, putting them in the same price segment as the Chinese.
