The new car brands coming to the UK this year

Chery is a Chinese state-owned company founded in 1997 and best known as the joint-venture partner of JLR, handling production of Jaguar and Land Rover models for the local market.

Now its Jaecoo 7 SUV is coming to the UK. It’s roughly Hyundai Tucson-sized and comes with petrol with plug-in hybrid powertrains.

A dealer network of 50 sites is being established, with franchise partners Endeavour Automotive, Listers and Peter Vardy already committed.

Leapmotor

Nationality Chinese

Parent company None

Stellantis has exclusive rights to export Leapmotor cars outside of China and plans to start sales in the UK this year. Three models are so far en route.

The 3620mm-long Leapmotor T03 (pictured) is a Dacia Spring rival but with a 34-mile range advantage. The B10 is a crossover-styled Renault 5 rival. And the C10 is a family SUV with a 262-mile range.

Mobilize

Nationality French

Parent company Renault

Renault’s new urban mobility brand is entering the ‘sub-A-segment’  to take on the likes of the Citroen Ami and Micro Microlino.

The Mobilize Duo (pictured) is very Twizy-like; it would be fair to describe it as the little Renault's spiritual successor. 

Mind you, it has airbags and the big-battery version is apparently good for 100 miles.

A van version, called the Bento, trades the single rear seat for more boot space.

Onvo

Nationality Chinese

Parent company Nio

Onvo was only founded in 2024 but is already pitching itself as a Tesla and Polestar rival.

The Shanghai-based company is coming to the UK before the EU because of the lack of import tariffs on Chinese-built EVs.

The L60 will be the first car to hit the UK. Onvo describes it as the most aerodynamically efficient SUV on the market. It will likely be available with three BYD-supplied battery packs, the largest of which will offer a 620-mile range, according to China’s generous CLTC test cycle.

Xpeng

Nationality Chinese

Parent company None

The Chinese Tesla, with offices in California and Munich, was founded in 2014 by former GAC executives and soon received backing from Alibaba and Xiaomi tech entrepreneurs.  

Its most famous for its ‘flying cars’, but a sensible electric SUV is en route to the UK this year.

Many a new car from China is described as a Tesla Model Y rival, but the Xpeng G6 (pictured) is the most credible. We’ve even given it a four-star rating.

There are only three versions: the single-motor Standard Range, single-motor Long Range and dual-motor Performance (although the last of those isn't yet confirmed for UK sale). 

Xpeng's cars are imported into the UK by International Motors, which performs the same role for GWM, Isuzu and Subaru.

Yangwang

Nationality Chinese

Parent company BYD

This brand sounds like it’s lifted from a That Mitchell and Webb sketch, but its first car heading to the UK is butcher than Terry Butcher. 

It’s the prestige brand of BYD and its largest car, the gargantuan Yangwang U8 SUV, should be en route later this year.