Football, meat pies, kangaroos and… Chinese cars?

A third AFL team has now signed a sponsorship agreement with a Chinese car brand, with GWM looking to get greater exposure to climb the sales charts.

GWM this week announced it has entered a multi-year ‘co-major’ partnership with the AFL’s Richmond Football Club to become a prominent sponsor on the team’s guernseys.

Claimed to be “the biggest partnership deal ever for the brand Down Under”, the GWM branding will be located under the Tigers’ player’s number, a spot most recently occupied by Latitude Financial Services.

It marks a return for a carmaker to sponsor the Tigers since the team’s relationship with Jeep ended at the conclusion of the 2021 season, having spanned 11 years and three premierships (2017, 2019, 2020).

“When we associate ourselves with a football club such as Richmond, we are partnering with an organisation with great history and success,” said GWM Australia and New Zealand chief operating officer, John Kett.

“Like Richmond, we are in a renewal stage – renewing our portfolio, introducing new technology, and challenging the more established brands that have been ahead of us for so long.

“We see ourselves not just as the number one Chinese brand, but as a genuine player in the Australian market. By 2027, our strategy is to be a top five automotive brand in Australia, selling 75,000 units a year, up from 50,000 today.

“This relationship with Richmond will be a key enabler of that ambition. The power of Richmond and its supporter base will help us build familiarity and awareness, while we hope to share in their success on the field. Reaching 75,000 sales and maybe a premiership along the way, would be incredible.”

GWM’s Rob Trubiani at the Lang Lang Proving Grounds

Year-to-date, GWM’s 34,398 vehicle deliveries place it seventh overall in Australia’s new car sales race, the highest of any Chinese brand, though BYD is closing in fast. GWM is still about 15,000 deliveries behind fifth-placed Hyundai.

By sponsoring the Richmond Tigers from 2025, GWM joins a small club of Chinese car brands partnering with AFL teams, currently limited to MG (Port Adelaide Power) and Chery (St Kilda Saints). In the NRL, MG sponsors the South Sydney Rabbitohs, while the Sydney Roosters entered a partnership with BYD this year.

The Richmond sponsorship deal is the latest prong in GWM’s Australian assault, having recently taken up ‘residency’ at Holden’s former Lang Lang proving grounds (currently owned by Vietnamese brand Vinfast), and the hiring of veteran Holden engineer, Rob Trubiani, to tune ride and handling for local roads.