Chinese EV Makers Target UK to Fuel Global Expansion

Nio, Aion and Zeekr are set to launch in the UK this year, becoming the latest Chinese carmakers to use Europe’s second-largest electric vehicle market to test their global ambitions. The UK is important for Chinese automakers expanding their footprint outside their ultra-competitive home market because it does not impose higher tariffs on EVs made in China. Its consumers are also more open to new brands due to a lack of a homegrown mass-market car manufacturer. While BYD, Chery and other Chinese manufacturers have taken market share from traditional rivals such as Toyota, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz, their sales are critical to reviving the UK market, which is yet to reach its pre-pandemic level of 2.5mn vehicles a year. Zeekr, Geely’s EV unit, is targeting the UK after expanding into 12 European markets including Germany, where it launched last month. “We want to cover more than 90 per cent of the European territory by the end of 2026,” Lothar Schupet, acting chief executive of Zeekr Europe, said during the Brussels motor show this month. It aimed to enter the UK later this year or early 2027, he added. Schupet said Zeekr was trying to build an “accessible luxury” brand that would grow through partnerships with UK leasing companies as fleet purchases make up about 60 per cent of the country’s new car market. “The residual value steering, the financial services, all these parts are very important to understand from the beginning,” he said. BYD and Chery — which owns the Omoda and Jaecoo brands — have also built extensive dealer networks in the UK. Geely, which entered the UK last year and said it wanted to sell 100,000 cars a year, is offering an eight-year warranty on batteries used in its EVs. Other new entrants in 2025 included Changan, Xpeng and Stellantis-backed Leapmotor. Chinese brands, led by MG, doubled their UK market share in 2025 compared with the previous year to 10 per cent, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. In December alone, BYD and Chery each grew their share to 5 per cent, from 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively a year earlier, while Chinese brands overall had 18 per cent in the month. Nio is aiming to launch a new small EV under its Firefly brand in the UK and state-owned GAC is preparing to introduce its Aion marque. BYD plans to bring luxury sub-brand Denza to the UK, while Chery, owner of the Omoda and Jaecoo brands, could introduce a third brand, Lepas. While BYD and Leapmotor plan to manufacture cars in Europe from this year, the UK government is yet to succeed in convincing Chinese manufacturers to build cars locally due to high energy costs. Ian Plummer, chief commercial officer at online marketplace Auto Trader, said the new entrants — predominantly Chinese but also including US brands — would have a 20 per cent market share in the UK as early as 2028.