Walk into an Australian supermarket and count the flavours of potato chips (crisps) from Kettle, Pringles, Red Rock Deli and Smith’s. I did, and the answer is 42. Chinese carmakers alone now sell about 72 models in Australia.

That figure comes from Pitcher Partners, the same analysis behind my earlier post on Australia’s Chinese EV soup. It has roughly 72 Chinese models on sale in 2026, jumping to about 120 in 2027. That is before you count a single Toyota, Ford or Mazda. Why so many, so fast? Liam Denning’s Bloomberg column in The Age has the answer, and it is not demand.

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Australia has more than 70 car brands fighting over about 1.2 million sales a year. Another one has just been announced. Trying to keep track of the models and manufacturers is becoming like trying to spot the floating ingredients in a Sichuan hotpot.

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A UK driving instructor’s leased Nissan sat off the road for three months this year, waiting on a single spare part. By the time it was finally repaired, she had spent more than £2,500 hiring a replacement dual control car, borrowed money from relatives to keep teaching and nearly lost her livelihood over a repair that should have taken days. The Guardian reported the case last week as a straightforward consumer complaint. It reads more like a warning.

The UK setting doesn’t matter. The same parts delays and the same insurance gaps are turning up in Australian driveways too, and mechanics here are already stretched thin before a missing part even enters the picture. If you own a modern car, two things in your policy now matter more than they did five years ago.

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