The likes of Changan, Chery and Geely are even newer on the UK scene. So fresh are they to Britain that measuring their respective year-on-year sales increases isn’t yet possible. But all three are already selling well, with Chery enjoying the greatest success. How great? What seems like five minutes after landing in Britain, it’s outselling Honda, Fiat, Jeep and Lexus, and if it continues to grow at this pace, it’s on course to overtake Suzuki, Dacia and Mazda and other long-established mass-market brands this year.
A new trend has clearly emerged during the first quarter of 2026, and it goes a bit like this: loyalty to many brands, models and car-producing nations is fast disappearing. UK consumers are increasingly defecting away from the old, often tired ‘establishment’ firms and opting instead for handsome, temptingly priced, good-quality vehicles from the new kids on the automotive block in China.
Fact is, we’re already buying more Chinese cars than those made by Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, American or British companies. Who’d have thought it, eh? Cars from China are now second only to German vehicles in terms of appeal to, and demand from, paying customers in the UK.
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