Chinese cars are stamping their mark in the UK.
In September, three Chinese models broke into the top 10 list of Britain's best-sellers during the busiest month of the calendar for car registrations - a sign of a 'major shift in the market's balance of power,' analysts said.
And they're not wrong.
Between July and September, Chinese models accounted for more than one in ten new cars entering our streets, securing a quarterly market share of 11.8 per cent. That's an meteoric rise from nigh-on zero a decade ago.
The most popular Chinese brand of all now delivers more new cars to UK drivers than established marques like Vauxhall as Britons are increasingly being tempted by the ultra-low pricing and high specification of motors emerging from East Asia.
Schmidt Automotive Research says Chinese manufacturers are tightening their stronghold on Britain's new car market at a 'rapid pace', currently doubling market share year-on-year to disrupt the status quo of European, Korean and Japanese manufacturers.
But which Chinese makers are in the most powerful position to really take over the UK market?
Auto Express has analysed the model ranges, global performance and expanding footprint of all the major Chinese players currently sold in the UK - or due to launch imminently. Here's a countdown of the ten in the power rankings most likely to make the biggest impression and become mainstream in the coming years.
10. Geely
UK models: EX5 SUV
2024 global exports: 414,000
2025 UK registrations: 0
Retailer network / warranty: 15 dealers / eight-year, 125,000-mile warranty, reduced to six years, 100,000 miles post-promotional period
While Geely is best known in the UK for being the parent group of Volvo and Lotus, it will soon establish its own standalone brand in the UK.
The first Geely-badged model sold in Britain will be the electric EX5, entering the highly competitive C-segment of medium-sized SUVs, though with an affordable starting price of just £31,995.
It's 2025 arrival in the UK will also see it establish 15 showrooms, with a view to dramatically expand.
9. XPeng
UK models: G6 crossover (X9 MPV and bigger G9 arriving in 2026)
2024 global exports: 190,068
2025 UK registrations: 509
Retailer network / warranty: 18 dealers and 30 service centres / five-year, 75,000-mile warranty
For a company founded by He Xiaopeng in 2014, within a decade XPeng has grown into an automotive giant employing around 40,000 people - that's more than Jaguar Land Rover.
Already, 15 per cent of its workforce is in R&D, including its centres in Silicon Valley and San Diego. A recent listing on the New York stock exchange and a European manufacturing partnership with Magna in Austria is a signal that this is a brand that's going to expand exponentially.
Its first UK model - the G6 electric SUV - arrived in February. And already it has been superseded by an upgraded version.
The manufacturer has impressed so much that Volkswagen Group recently formed a joint venture with XPeng to create the electric and electronic architecture for all its future Chinese cars and is co-funding the rollout of 20,000 chargers in 420 home cities.
8. Polestar
UK models: 2, 3, 4 and 5
2024 global exports: 44,851
2025 UK registrations: 12,630
Retailer network / warranty: 14 dealers / three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, eight years for electric vehicle batteries
Polestar is already an established name in the UK, with the brand playing heavily on its relationship with Swedish sister firm Volvo, which too is owned by Geely.
And Britain is where it is seeing the most success, becoming the company's biggest single market - some feat given that our volume is eight times smaller than the US’s, and China’s market is double that.
Auto Express says Polestar’s current biggest headache is its reliance on Chinese manufacturing, which currently scuppers US imports of the 2, 4 and new, high-performance 5 sport GT. The Chinese-built models also incur 19 per cent duties landing in Europe.
And this is why the next Polestar – the 7 compact SUV due to arrive in 2028 – will be assembled in Slovakia, with experts saying it could be the model that sends the brand into a new stratosphere of popularity in Europe.
7. Omoda
UK models: 5 and E5, 9 SHS
2024 global exports: 940,000 (combined with Jaecoo)
2025 UK registrations: 14,223
Retailer network / warranty: 81 dealers / seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty
Omoda is one of three brands already launched in the UK that sits under the Chery banner (Jaecoo and the company's Chery marque being the other two) and is aimed at the younger demographic.
Paul Barker, editor of Auto Express, says it is worthy of seventh overall in the power ranking of Chinese brands on the fact it has already hit the ground running in the UK since its arrival halfway through 2024, outselling brands including Citroen and Lexus this year.
The first model to land here was the Omoda 5, which is available either with petrol or electric power and looks to pinch sales from cars like the Nissan Qashqai.
The petrol version is the more popular of the two, grabbing around 70 per cent of orders through an 81-strong dealer network predicted to hit 100 by early next year.
And showing the fast-paced flexibility of Chinese brands, Omoda has already reacted to some early criticism of the 5's ride and handling - and some infotainment gripes - with a recent revamp to put right those issues.
The Omoda 9 SHS - its second car - is strictly a plug-in hybrid SUV, and one we've already driven through nine countries to put to the test its 700-mile range claim.
6 Leapmotor
UK models: T03 and C10 (four more coming in 2026)
2024 global exports: Just over 2,000 in its first year, but has increased 10-fold in 2025
2025 UK registrations: 1,353
Retailer network / warranty: 53 dealers / four-year,60,000-mile warranty
Where Leapmotor has manufactured an advantage over Chinese rivals is its partnership with Stellantis – the parent company of Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot, Vauxhall and many more - to tap into its nationwide dealer network.
And that’s helpful in a whole series of ways, including using an established aftercare infrastructure to provide servicing and repairs.
It too has made an impression with a punchy model line-up, with the affordable T03 city car and the C10 family SUV providing plenty of affordability against mainstream rivals - and even its Chinese counterparts.
Next year, it will fill the gap between them with a pair of hatchbacks and a couple of SUVs, the first of which is the B10, followed by the VW Golf-sized B05 family car revealed at the Munich show in September. A smaller hatchback and SUV will follow by the end of 2026.
It too is tapping into the simplicity UK buyers like, offering just one very well specced trim level for each car.
Like most Chinese makers, Leapmotor has focused purely on EVs so far, but the C10 SUV will get a range-extender (REV) hybrid system early next year to broaden its appeal.
5. Jaecoo
UK models: 5 and E5, plus the 7 (petrol and PHEV)
2024 global exports: 940,000 (combined with Omoda)
2025 UK registrations: 18,170
Retailer network / warranty: 81 dealers / seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty
Jaecoo has made a big impression in 2025, with its first model, the 7, hitting an incredible fourth place in the new-car sales chart in September - an unprecedented feat for a brand that hadn’t sold a single vehicle in the UK this time 12 months ago.
While the vast majority will be fleet acquisitions, drivers can expect to see its distinctively enormous grilles on our roads more prominently over the coming months.
While the 7 is available with a 145bhp 1.6 petrol engine, it's the 201bhp 1.5-litre SHS plug-in hybrid powertrain that's most impressive, providing a generous 56-mile electric-only range.
The Range Rover Evoque-looking 5 has also landed this autumn, taking Jaecoo into electric territory for the first time. But while its mediocre battery range of 248 miles and charging speed of just 80kW aren't that appealing, the pricing is, starting from just £27,505 for a relatively big SUV with plenty of equipment.
Like some Chinese rivals, European production for UK Jaecoos is rumoured, courtesy of Chery’s joint venture with Ebro at the former Nissan plant near Barcelona in Spain.
4. Changan
UK models: Deepal S07
2024 global exports: 600,000 (on track to top 1 million this year)
2025 UK registrations: 19
Retailer network / warranty: 40 dealers / seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty
Changan is one of the Chinese manufacturers you've likely never heard of. And why would you, given it has registered a mere 19 cars in the UK in 2025 so far.
However, the car firm founded in 1984 (claiming to be China's first passenger-car brand) already has [relatively] long-established roots in Britain for a Chinese marque; its powertrain test centre has been located in Birmingham since 2010 in a clear sign of its intentions to break into the UK market.
And its European operations are not just here: there’s a design centre in Turin, Italy, and a satellite studio in Munich, Germany, for sister brand Avatr.
Its UK car roll-out is expected to proceed at lightning pace following the launch of the Changan Deepal S07 EV last month. The big crossover, designed in Turin, costs £39,990 for a spacious five-seater - though it can only travel 295 miles on a charge, which is short of European rivals.
A smaller S05 is scheduled to join it by the end of this year. Both will run electric and hybrid powertrains.
3. Chery
UK models: Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 (petrol and PHEV)
2024 global exports: 1.14 million
2025 UK registrations: 0
Retailer network / warranty: 25 dealers / seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty
You've almost certainly not clapped eyes on a Chery-badged car on UK roads yet - but we can assure you that will change very shortly.
That's because the Chinese automotive giant plans to launch four new SUVs over the next six months as it looks to establish itself in the same way its sister brands Jaecoo and Omoda have in 2025.
What makes Auto Express so confident that it will be one of the three biggest players in the power rankings? 'Its track record, steely-eyed intent and its launch line-up,' the motoring title says.
Its forthcoming models will all be marginally larger than competitors to establish an edge in terms of practicality. And they too will be dripping with standard equipment for a hi-tech feel and launching with petrol or hybrid power to satisfy the masses.
The smallest will be the Tiggo 4, which is big for the B-segment - against models like the Peugeot 2008 and VW T-Cross - but costing towards the lower end of the £20,000 bracket.
And if you wander down to one of Chery’s 25 existing retailers across Britain, you’ll already find the Tiggo 7 - its five-seat SUV using the brand's Super Hybrid System (SHS) already deployed by Omoda and Jaecoo.
Fully charged, the 18.4kWh battery should deliver around 50 miles of EV range, but the kicker is the aggressive price: £29,995 makes it the UK’s cheapest plug-in hybrid.
Like other Chinese rivals, its line-up is simple too, with just two trim levels - though the entry 'Aspire' spec provides pretty much everything you could ever want and need.
2. BYD
UK models: Dolphin Surf, Dolphin, Atto 2, Atto 3, Seal, Sealion 7 (EVs), plus Seal U and Seal 6 (PHEVs)
2024 global exports: exports: 4.27million
2025 UK registrations: 35,604
Retailer network / warranty: 102 dealers / six-year,93,750-mile warranty
Build Your Dreams (BYD) is the standard bearer for the Chinese car industry’s international expansion, having only launched in the UK in 2024 but already having six EVs in its line-up - and the imminent arrival of the Seal 6 DM-i estate will take its plug-in hybrid offering to two.
BYD isn’t quite China’s biggest car maker – SAIC, owner of MG, holds that accolade – but last year global sales hit 4.27 million vehicles - pitched it in headlines in a death-or-glory battle with Tesla to be the world’s omnipotent EV maker. And, currently, BYD's winning the scrap.
But it's not just its wide range of affordable models that's translating to popularity; it is leading the technology arms race in the EV sphere too.
With some 120,000 engineers applying for some 45 patents every day, it is at the forefront of EV development. In fact, BYD has invested more in R&D than its net profit in 13 of the last 14 years - at that scale, it won’t be easy for western car makers to keep pace.
BYD’s innovations include popularising lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, the cheaper alternative to lithium-ion NMC by eliminating rare earths such as cobalt.
The firm also pushed ahead with ‘cell-to-body’ design where the battery pack is a structural part – in effect the car’s floor.
It too has developed its own suite of ultra-rapid 'flash chargers' using a 1,000kW architecture that can add 1.2 miles of range per second to fully charge in just five minutes. In comparison, Tesla's 250kW Superchargers currently deliver 172 miles in 15 minutes.
Another area it has moved rapidly is its UK retail network, which has already surpassed 100 stores and is expected to hit 130 before the year is out.
And its next salvo will be opening two European factories - one in Hungary and a second in Turkey. Combined, the two plants should yield more than 300,000 units of capacity when they’re up to full steam – and help BYD circumvent its 27 per cent import tariff.
There really is no sign of BYD slowing down.
1. MG
UK models: ZS, HS, S5 SUVs, 3 and 4 hatchbacks, Cyberster, plus IM5 and IM6 EVs
2024 global exports: 1.082million
2025 UK registrations: 65,394
Retailer network / warranty: 155 dealers / seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty
MG's UK success can largely be attributed to its ability to tap into the heritage linked to the two-character nameplate it snapped up after the turn of the century.
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) acquired the badge after MG Rover plunged into administration in 2005, and it now sells more cars in a single year than the firm delivered in its pre-Chinese history.
It was an astute acquisition and one that's proving extremely fruitful in Britain today, with the brand amongst the 10 best-selling manufacturers in 2024.
However, it has also proved popular due to its broad spectrum of competitively priced cars with a variety of powertrain options, which are sold across a massive dealer network.
The MG HS, for instance, is Britain's favourite budget SUV, with the sub-£24,000 car sitting eighth in the overall car sales charts last year.
Proving just how successful MG has become is two of its latest initiatives: the Cyberster roadster and the more luxurious IM arm of the business.
While the former intends to be the first volume-selling electric roadster, the IM5 saloon and IM6 SUV are high-performance electric cars targeting the £40,000-£60,000 currently occupied by more established European rivals... and Elon Musk's Tesla.
it's fair to say that MG has already snatched a huge chunk of the UK market - and looks to cement its position among the best-selling brands of 2025 and beyond.
