High prices from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and others have opened the door to Chinese brands

Two and a bit years ago, the only Chinese firm that mattered to UK buyers was MG. It was selling around 6,000 cars a month here and, at the same time, newcomers BYD, GWM and Maxus were well-nigh irrelevant as each struggled to sell just one car per day. And, er, that was about it.

A complacent industry ‘expert’ working for a leading European manufacturer advised me not to get too excited about the ability of the Chinese to appeal to what he described as the “sophisticated tastes” of western buyers. The consensus at his slightly snobby firm seemed to be that the majority of cars from most of China’s brands were unknown, undesirable and unsaleable – at least to demanding, badge-obsessed, image-conscious UK buyers.

Me? I couldn’t have disagreed more. This was the early post-Covid era, when cars from some European, Japanese, Korean and American makers became unreasonably and unnecessarily expensive. Many buyers were priced out, simply unable to afford to shop with the companies they were used to buying from. They were forced to look elsewhere. And, generally, they liked what they saw. As did I.

My numerous visits to China had already given me a taste of the automotive product invasion to come. But it was only when, in mid- 2023, I saw and drove what BYD and others had lined up that it became blindingly obvious to me that the world’s No.1 car-making country (in terms of volume) had got its products and pricing absolutely right. Also, its full-on arrival in the UK was impeccably timed. Which is why, two-and-a-half years ago, in this weekly column, I stated: “I’m not merely forecasting that there’ll be a tsunami of Chinese cars heading our way from summer ’23. I’m guaranteeing it.”

Since then, BYD, GWM, Maxus and MG have been joined by Changan, Chery, Haval, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, Omoda, Skywell and XPeng. They’re going through the usual time-consuming process of introducing and establishing their brands with UK punters, while recruiting their UK HQ staff and building the franchised dealer networks they require.

Yet, according to September’s UK sales figures, these brands have collectively enabled China to become the third best-selling car-producing country here after Germany and Japan. South Korea, Britain, USA, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Spain, Romania, Italy and other major nations are licking their wounds; they’ve already been overtaken.   

But this is just for starters. More Chinese marques are about to be unleashed onto the UK market. I believe Japan will lose its No.2 status sooner rather than later. After that, the long-term goal is for China to dislodge Germany from top spot in the UK sales league. Who’d bet against it? Not me. Especially if Audi, BMW and Mercedes keep pricing their cars beyond the financial reach of most real-world consumers.

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