We like
Better than a Kia Carnival in row two thanks to captains’ chairs and tray tables, level ride, decent handling, powerful and frugal plug-in hybrid system, value for money, seven-year warranty, attractive for fleets

Room for improvement
Anonymous yet gaudy exterior styling, last-generation infotainment, secondary materials are not luxe, $88K on-road is spendy for any new brand, seven seats and 580kg payload means passengers must be light

Overview

 

WHEN GoAuto tested the first two Australian launch models from GAC, it was evident that the Guangzhou Automotive Group Company is, in some ways, a bit like the Toyota of China.

 

That isn’t solely attributable to the fact that GAC is, in fact, one of the only Chinese domestic manufacturers to have a joint assembly venture with Toyota. It’s also down to the fact that GAC cars are regarded as thoroughly mainstream in their home market.

 

We don’t use mainstream as a pejorative: mid-market cars are the foundation of the Australian new vehicle market, and both the GAC Emzoom small SUV and Aion V electric midsize SUV represent decent value.

 

Less obviously well-priced is the third member of GAC’s inaugural trio: the M8 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) minivan, which has now arrived in Australia with an offer that kicks off with the $76,590 (plus-on road costs) Premium—though we were only able to drive the $83,590 + ORCs Luxury.

 

Opulent minivans have surged in popularity in China, Japan, South Korea in the last two decades, with initially chauffeur-driven businesspeople, and then well-to-do families, in Asian markets appreciating the additional stretch-out space when compared with premium sedans.

 

The business case for luxury vans in Australia is less clear. The relatively affordable Kia Carnival is essentially the only popular passenger MPV in the country (sales were up eight per cent to 10,948 last year), but various premium challengers have remained a very niche proposition.

 

The Lexus LM (216 sales in 2025), Mercedes-Benz V-Class and derivatives (429), Volkswagen ID Buzz and Multivan (837) and Zeekr 009 (123) enjoy only modest slices of the market. Meanwhile, the cheaper, Chinese-made LDV Mifa 9 has been discontinued in Australia, at least for now.

 

Still, there appears to be sufficient theoretical demand to have warranted homologation of the GAC M8—and rival GWM will enter a similar $75K-$100K minivan space later in 2026 with the Wey G9 model.

 

The M8 is marginally bigger than a Carnival with length of 5212mm (with 3070mm wheelbase), height of 1823mm and width of 1893mm. Kerb weight is 2420kg. GVM of 3000kg means payload of 580kg, which is tight for seven people and cargo and well short of a Carnival hybrid (646kg).

 

Specification is reasonable even in the $76K Premium base grade with genuine leather upholstery, 12-way power driver’s seat, tri-zone climate, eight-speaker audio, acoustic glass, dual power-sliding side doors, 10.2-inch touchscreen and 12.3-inch touchscreen all fitted as standard.

 

Step into the $83K Luxury and buyers nab semi-aniline leather, vehicle-to-load discharging, interior fragrance dispenser, automated parking, sunshades and ambient lighting while second-row comfort steps right up with powered, heated, cooled and massaging captain’s chairs.

 

Options are very limited. Solid Blade White paint is standard, Elegant Black Metallic is a $1200 option while the tan leather interior can be substituted for a black/red two-tone scheme at no cost.

 

The powertrain is impressive for the segment, with GAC pairing a 2.0-litre 4B20J2 turbocharged petrol four-cylinder engine (making 140kW/320Nm) with a permanent-magnet front electric motor (134kW/300Nm) with peak outputs of 274kW/630Nm available with charge in the battery.

 

The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack measures 25.5kWh in capacity. It can be charged with AC (up to 6.6kW) or DC (up to 35kW) power while providing claimed electric range of 106km. Stated fuel economy on a ‘dead’ battery is 6.0L/100km for total claimed range of 1032km.

 

Servicing pricing is not yet public but the M8 is covered by a seven year/unlimited kilometre vehicle warranty and an eight year/200,000km battery warranty.

 

Driving impressions

 

GAC’s several sub-brands occupy different levels of the premium spectrum. In China, as in Australia, the M8 is essentially the flagship of the group’s mainstream brand. GAC will bring the Hyptec line of luxury electric models to Australia in future but for now, the M8 is top dog.

 

Given the M8’s prestigious positioning—and its price, which is higher than even a top-shelf Kia Carnival GT-Line hybrid—it makes sense that this minivan prioritises comfort for the driver and occupants while also realising various refinement gains unlocked by the PHEV powertrain.

 

The front-wheel drive PHEV architecture underpins the driving experience of the M8. With the LFP battery fully charged, we were able to manage 90km of quiet and silken fully electric running on real Australian roads with consumption at 28.3kWh/100km.

 

Commercial operators such as luxury hotels that consider adding the M8 to their fleets would be well-served by regularly charging the van, as the experience is at its best when the petrol engine remains switched off.

 

Not that the 2.0-litre turbo ‘four is raucous, but you can hear and feel the petrol engine working away through the two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission when charge in the battery is low—especially as this is an older-school PHEV where the engine can directly drive the wheels.

 

Performance is more than adequate for real-world driving. Our test loop included some city driving, as well as highway and a tough uphill mountain climb—not your typical environment for a luxury hybrid van.

 

While the 274kW/630Nm peak outputs represent a best-case scenario, we still found there was strong power and torque available even at a low state of battery charge, while brake feel was better than many hybrids with the pedal masking the crossover of regen’ and friction braking.

 

The M8 rides on a MacPherson strut-type front and multi-link independent rear suspension augmented by continuously adjustable electromagnetic dampers. This tech works well, filtering out road imperfections and maintaining far better body control than expected in the corners.

 

It’s true that the Kia Carnival is a bit of a driver’s MPV—but the GAC M8 sort of is as well. On the punishing Jamberoo Mountain Road south of Sydney, it was the M8’s 225/60 R18 Michelin e-Primacy tyres that protested more than the chassis, which feels reasonably polished.

 

Still, while it’s nice to know it can handle switchbacks, there is no question that the sweet spot of the M8 is relaxed long-distance travel where the refined drivetrain, level ride and well equipped cabin (in top-spec Luxury guise) work together in harmony.

 

With road and wind noise suppressed, passengers in row two of an M8 Luxury are in the lap of, well, luxury. The cooled, massaging semi-aniline leather captains’ chairs are supportive and highly adjustable while sturdy tray tables make it genuinely possible to get work done on a laptop.

 

Inside, it is very clear that the second-row pax are the priority. It’s decent enough up front, but the seats are not as comfortable and the front passenger pew (with only four ways of adjustment) seems like an afterthought.

 

The third row is fine for occasional adult use, or it can be stowed away to liberate 1500 litres of boot space. With seven passengers aboard, boot space is a poky 280 litres.

 

The dashboard aesthetic is a touch dated but key controls are laid out logically. Wireless smartphone connectivity is standard and worked without issue in our testing.

 

It is true to say that the GAC is not an out-and-out luxury car and beyond the nice, soft-touch leather seats, some of the secondary trims betray the fact this brand is, again, more of a Toyota than a Lexus.

 

Adaptive safety technology is quite comprehensive, and we found the adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance technologies worked as expected. However, it is notable that reversing AEB is restricted to the Luxury grade only, and in a vehicle this size, it’s a safety net you want.

 

Once we’d exhausted the 25.5kWh battery after 90km of electric driving, our petrol-engine consumption was a respectable 7.2L/100km, meaning the M8 will deliver a combined real-world range of about 870km.

 

So, although the M8 looks slightly gaudy while hailing from a brand few Australians have heard of, this minivan turns out to be remarkably fit for purpose.

 

It is more expensive than a Carnival but, in Luxury guise at least, it is noticeably more premium than any spec of that Kia MPV while also comfortably undercutting far more premium options from Lexus or Mercedes-Benz.

 

The relative frugality of this PHEV, which delivers reasonable electric running and then acceptable fuel efficiency with the engine fired up, will also be of interest to corporate operators, for whom the M8 is worth a look.