Chinese cars in or coming to the UK for those that won’t read “This is Money”
Geely Holdings (owners of Volvo, Polestar and Lotus) are perhaps the largest manufacturer in the European Market.
Geely own:
Geely motors.
Smart – A joint venture with Mercedes.
LEVC – Better known as the TX – a modernised version of the iconic London taxi. Dominating London’s taxi sales, the TX is a range-extender model
Geometry – China only for now.
Proton – Proton is the national car brand of Malaysia. Yes the one we once had here from 1989 and 2014, though the brand is highly unlikely to ever return. Geely has had a 50% stake since 2017.
Lynk & Co – To launch in the UK 2023/24.
Zeekr – To launch in the UK 2024
Renault Group and Geely – have announced officially a new 50-50 partnership (2022) that will focus on the development of new hybrid and internal combustion powertrains. Initially, the new company will produce and supply next-generation hybrid powertrains to brands including Renault, Dacia, Geely, Volvo, Lynk & Co, Proton, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. In the future, however, the scope of operations should expand to third-party marques from the automotive industry. The new company will also develop emissions-free technologies
BYD – The 2nd largest BEV battery maker after CATL.
ATTO 3 – available to buy.
Dolphin – Expected end of the year beginning of next.
Seal – Rumoured this summer
Han – Available in mainland Europe.
Tang – 2nd best selling car in Norway (2022)
The Han and Tang won’t be available in the UK for some time because we drive on the wrong side of the road!
BYD’s new BLADE battery is said to be the safest, yet by experts in the field
BYD also make electric Buses, truck and Forklifts and are available in over 100 destinations accross Europe. BYD have made the London Enviro electric bus.
BYD is so building a Battery gigafactory and has partnerd with SXT car hire in Europe.
NIO – famous for it car and truck battery swop stations in China.
Nio have launched Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark in 2022. And, by 2025, NIO will establish its presence in over 25 countries.
ET 5
ET 7 – semi solid state batter with 620 mile range in its 150Kw form (NEDC)
ET 8 SUV – semi solid state batter with 500+ mile range in its 150Kw form (NEDC)
The ET5 is expected to be coming to the UK late 2024.
Great Wall Motors (GWM) Another large Chinese company.
GWM have entered a strategic partnership with Europe’s largest car dealer group, Emil Frey, Along with Looker and Peter Vardy in the UK.
Wey Coffee 01 – Large SUV PHEV with 90+ mile battery range, available in mainland Europe and expected to launch in the UK by the end of the year or 2024.
Ora Funky Cat – a joint venture between BMW and GWM
The 2024 Mini electric will share the platform with the Ora and be built in China by GWM.
HiPhi – has announced two new ‘Hubs’ in Munich and Oslo, with Germany and Norway respectively being two of the main markets and are expected to come to the UK next year.
HiPhi‘X’ SUV has already been approved for sale by the European Union.
HiPhi ‘Y’ expted in 2024.
SAIC – needs no introduction (MG) which sells many of its better models outside of the UK.
SAIC – own under its own branding – Feifan, IM, Maxus, MG, Roewe, Baojun (under SGMW), Wuling (under SGMW).
SAIC – have several joint venturers SAIC-Volkswagen (Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi) and SAIC-General Motors (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac).
The SAIC Maxus van T90 ( ex LDV) is an electric van used by several logistic companies such as ANC in the UK.
CATL – The largest BEV battery manufacturer in the world.
CATL Batteries To Be Used By Europe’s Top Electric Bus Maker Solaris
Similar to BYD, CATL also manufacturers its battery technology for BEV manufacturers and collaborates with companies including BMW, Daimler AG, Hyundai Honda, Li Auto, NIO, PSA group, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo and XPeng. SAIC’s clients include BAIC Motor, Geely, GAC Group, Yutong Bus, Zhongtong Bus, Xiamen King Long, SAIC Motor and Foton Motor.
BMW announced in 2018 that it would buy €4 billion worth of batteries from CATL for use in the electric Mini and iNext vehicles.
In July 2022, Ford announced buying batteries from CATL for use in the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning models.
In October 2022, CATL expands deal with Vinfast to provide skateboard chassis for EVs and ‘enhance global footprint.
CATL is also building a battery Gigafactory in Germany.
Interesting point is the not so well known Chinese member of the PSA Group “Dongfeng”
As I said yesterday – The majority of European manufacturers have their fingers in China and have done for sometime and what ever we buy will have a Chinese manufacturers battery or other important components made with love from China. Is it such a big deal buying or having a Chinese car, when well known manufacturers have partnerships with them!!