I went to China and was left stunned by all the car brands that could still hit the UK

Chinese car brands are a very hot topic, and you’ve certainly heard us prattle on about their ever-growing influence in the UK and Europe. However, when I recently took a trip to try out the incoming BYD Ti7 over in China, nothing could have prepared me for just how many different home-grown cars I’d actually see.

While my colleagues and I spend our professional lives memorising make and model names, we’re already struggling for breath trying to keep up with the Chinese cars that have either arrived or are about to enter the UK. We’ve currently got the likes of BYD, Changan, Chery, GWM and XPeng all making their mark on our shores, and there’s even more to come, including Denza, GAC and Lepas. 

We also have an increasing number of better-known carmakers that are now at least partly owned by Chinese companies, such as Lotus and Volvo. Still not enough for you? Some manufacturers, like Land Rover and Peugeot, are also teaming up with the Chinese to build their cars.

There are already more than enough names for the establishment to worry about – and they should in many cases – but if there’s one thing that the streets of Shenzen taught me very quickly, it’s that we’ve barely even scratched the surface. 

In case you didn’t know, Shenzen is where BYD’s headquarters are located. When I first arrived, I presumed that the locals would take pride in their doorstep car brand just like the people of Sunderland do with Nissan. I certainly wasn’t wrong, because there were hundreds if not thousands of BYD models out and about. However, nothing could prepare me for the sheer quantity of unfamiliar badges that I’d soon find myself frantically researching.

Now, take a breath, because here’s just some of the monikers that I spotted: Aito, Bestune, Dongfeng, Fangchengbao, Lynk & Co, Luxeed, Maple, Neo, Neta, Roewe, Xiaomi, Yangwang and Zeekr. 

Bear in mind that this isn’t even a full list, and I’m sure you’ll quickly appreciate that the number of Chinese carmakers that aren’t in the UK is still mind-blowingly vast. In contrast to this gigantic bunch, one sight was quite the rarity in Shenzen: non-Chinese cars.  

While I did spot a handful of BMWs, Land Rovers, Toyotas and Volkswagens lurking within the crowd, the ratio of domestically-produced cars to imported ones was incredibly one-sided. Bear in mind that several Chinese brands are still in their relative infancy, and it’s all too clear that ferociously competitive pricing and improving quality are attracting countless drivers away from the long-serving foreign firms.

Although there are some fundamental differences between the demands of European and Chinese customers, I simply cannot help but wonder whether our own market is destined to a similar fate.

Badge loyalty and all that jazz quickly fizzles out when one car is thousands of pounds cheaper than its closest rival. Sure, if there’s a big dip in quality you might be willing to fork out the extra cash, but this gap is quickly closing. BYD has recently committed a huge amount of money and resources into designing cars specifically for the European market, and plenty of other names are also seriously upping their game when it comes to winning over non-Chinese buyers.

Several of the established brands have finally begun responding to this existential threat by promising more affordable cars. That’s great news for the average car buyer, but one question remains: why has it taken so many so long to realise that money talks? The clock is ticking faster and faster, and achieving price parity with an endless stream of new entries – which often boast class-leading levels of tech and efficiency – is an incredibly difficult task. However, it’s now literally a matter of life and death for numerous firms that were once household names. 

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