Although many people don’t realise it, China has been the world’s largest producer of motor vehicles since 2008. Today, its automotive industry dwarfs every other country in the world, with an annual production in excess of 30 million vehicles. Next best is the USA, on about 10 million.
A few more numbers illustrate the scale of the Chinese car industry. One in three motor vehicles worldwide (31+ million out of 95 million) is built in China, and the other two-thirds are loaded with Chinese components. China built more motor vehicles last year than the UK has built over the last 25 years combined.
As well as a rapidly growing number of Chinese car brands, many European and American car companies also build cars in China for export around the world. You could be buying a new BMW, Mini or Tesla and not know that it’s assembled in China.
The shift to electric vehicles is only accelerating China’s dominance in the global car industry. The EV sector in China is far more developed than here in Europe, with about half of all new cars being electric. The country has also developed a stranglehold on many of the crucial raw materials required for producing EV batteries, which is likely to cement its position in coming years.
Chinese brands selling in the UK
Chinese car brands are establishing a presence in the UK at a rapid pace, with six different Chinese manufacturers already selling new models in the UK and several more on the way. This also includes MG, a well-known British car brand that has been fully owned by the Chinese company SAIC Motor since 2007.
BYD
Entire range built in Asia
With its factories located in China, Thailand and India, you can be confident that any of the growing number of BYD cars on British roads started their life on an Asian production line.
The range now includes the Dolphin hatchback, Seal saloon, Atto 3 SUV and Seal U SUV, with the larger Sealion 7 SUV also on the way. BYD surpassed Tesla as the world’s fastest-growing car brand last year, recording over 8,700 new car sales in the UK in 2024.
GWM
Entire range built in Asia
BYD wasn’t the first Chinese brand to arrive in the UK – that was Great Wall Motors’ sub-brand Ora. The cute Ora 03 electric hatchback launched in 2022 (originally called the Funky Cat) and is still the brand’s only offering to British buyers three years later. It is assembled in both China and Thailand.
Another Chinese GWM brand, Haval, is launching its new Jolion Pro SUV in the UK in the coming months.
Jaecoo
Entire range built in Asia
You may not yet have heard of Jaecoo, as the Chery-owned brand has just arrived, but it’s quickly building up its UK presence.
Jaecoo launched its first car in the UK, the petrol and plug-in hybrid Jaecoo 7 SUV, in February this year. It’s been a successful launch, with more than 2,000 cars sold in the first couple of months on sale.
Next up is the Jaecoo 5 range – available with either petrol or electric power – which is set to arrive over summer. Also rumoured to be on the way are the seven-seat Jaecoo 8 SUV and at least one other model.
Leapmotor
Builds its T03 hatchback in both Poland and China
Leapmotor arrived in the UK last year with two new electric models – the pint-sized T03 city car and C10 mid-sized SUV. It will also soon bolster its fledgling UK range with q compact B10 electric crossover.
The brand is the only Chinese manufacturer to assemble some of its cars in Europe. Due to its partnership with Stellantis – which owns 20% of Leapmotor – the T03 is manufactured in Poland for the European market, while the B10 and C10 are both built in China.
MG
Entire range built in Asia
Althogh it was founded in Oxford in 1924, MG has been owned by Chinese giant SAIC Motor for 18 years. Most of its cars are assembled in China, although SAIC also has plants in Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan, and the company retains a design centre in London.
Under its Chinese ownership, MG’s range has blossomed to encompass petrol, hybrid and electric models. Although it no longer builds affordable sports roadsters, the company is probably more profitable and stable than it has ever been.
Omoda
Entire range built in Asia
Another brand owned by Chinese giant Chery, Omoda arrived in the UK last year and is a sister brand to Jaecoo.
The marque’s range currently includes the petrol-powered 5 and electric E5 SUVs. Arriving shortly is the larger Omoda 9, to be followed later in the year by the Omoda 7 and probably next year by the smaller Omoda 3 – all of which are built in China.
Skywell
Entire range built in China
A fledgling Chinese brand that has just arrived on British roads, Skywell has one offering so far in the electric BE11 SUV. The car is built in Nanjing, China.
Compared to other Chinese rivals that are pushing hard to corner the market with keen pricing and aggressive dealership expansion, Skywell has had a more cautious UK launch with a smaller dealer network.
XPeng
Entire range built in China
XPeng (pronounced ‘Xiao Peng’) landed in the UK back in March with the launch of its mid-sized electric G6 SUV. The marque also plans to bring its P7+ saloon, seven-seater X9 people carrier and flagship G9 SUV to the UK market in the near future.
The brand’s entire range is built at the company’s factory in Guangzhou, China.
Other brands that build cars in China
Several big European names have strong and long-established connections to Chinese manufacturing. Volkswagen Group, for example, has been making some of its cars in China since 1978. In 2025, the vast majority of Chinese-built cars from European and US brands are all-electric models, and are built in China as part of a partnership with a Chinese automotive company, or because electric car battery production is cheaper there, or because a Chinese brand partly owns the European marque.
There are several models not mentioned below, like the Audi Q4 e-tron, Volkswagen ID.3, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class and many more, that are manufactured in both Europe and China, with Chinese manufacturing generally reserved for the Chinese domestic market and other Asian countries.
The BMW iX3 was the brand’s first electric SUV, which arrived in the UK in 2021. It was also BMW’s first model built for export to the UK and Europe from the brand’s factory in Shenyang, China.
Now approaching the end of its model life, the iX3 is set to be replaced by the new iX3 Neue Klasse SUV which is entering production in both China and South Africa. The majority of BMW electric models, including the i4, i5, i7 and flagship iX, are assembled in Germany.
While the majority of models in Citroën’s current range is built in Europe, the French brand has been building cars in the Chinese city of Wuhan for decades, though not necessarily for the European market.
That changed in 2022 with the introduction of the brand’s upmarket C5 X liftback, which is exclusively built in Chengdu, China as part of a partnership between parent company Stellantis and Chinese company Dongfeng.
Sporty SEAT sub-brand Cupra has recently launched its new Tavascan SUV in the UK – an electric car that is only built at Volkswagen’s Hefei factory in China.
The rest of Cupra’s current range – including the Ateca SUV, Leon hatchback and estate, all-electric Born hatchback and the upcoming Terramar SUV – are built in Europe.
Known for its unparalleled value-for-money pricing, Dacia builds most of its model range in its home nation of Romania. However, to keep pricing for its all-electric Spring hatchback as low as possible, Dacia decided to move the car’s manufacturing abroad.
The Spring is assembled in Shiyan, China as part of a joint venture with parent company Renault, Chinese automaker Dongfeng, and Nissan.
Lotus
Builds its Emeya and Eletre in China
Another renowned British automotive name that is not exactly British anymore, Lotus is backed by Chinese brand Geely, which owns a controlling 51% of the luxury marque.
While the petrol-powered Lotus Emira sports car is assembled in Norfolk, the brand’s all-electric Emeya grand tourer and Eletre SUV are built in Wuhan, China.
Back in 2020, BMW began a joint venture with Great Wall Motor to produce all-electric Mini models in China. This partnership continues today, with Mini’s Aceman crossover and new Cooper Electric hatchback assembled in the city of Zhangjiagang.
BMW did have plans to start manufacturing these electric models at Mini’s Oxford plant in the UK where the ICE-powered Mini Cooper is built, but has delayed the investment needed for this project due to “market uncertainty” – and presumably the fact that it already builds the car in China for less than it can do in the UK.
Polestar
Entire range built in China
Since its establishmentd in 2017, Volvo spin-off Polestar has always built its models in China.
The Polestar 2 saloon is currently built in Zhejiang, the Polestar 3 SUV is built in Chengdu, and the Polestar 4 is built in the city of Ningbo. Like parent company Volvo, Chinese giant Geely owns a large stake in Polestar, recently increasing its share to become the largest stakeholder in the upmarket all-electric brand.
Smart
Entire range built in China
Originally under the Mercedes-Benz umbrella, Chinese automaker Geely bought a 50% stake in Smart in 2019.
This joint Mercedes-Geely partnership has rejuvenated the Smart brand, and sees the marque’s #1, #3 and upcoming #5 SUVs assembled in Xi’an, China. Mercedes-Benz provides the exterior and interior design, while Geely handles the engineering and manufacturing of the models.
Despite the ongoing US-China tariff war, American all-electric marque Tesla has recently opened its second large factory in Shanghai, where it builds the Model 3 saloon.
Tesla also builds its popular Model Y SUV in China, but UK and European vehicles are supplied from the company’s German factory in Berlin.
Swedish brand Volvo has been building cars in China many years, with full ownership of three different Chinese factories. Geely owns a large stake in the company.
The brand’s compact EX30 crossover is built exclusively in Chengdu, China – though production is planned to be moved to Belgium in 2026 – and the brand’s large EX90 SUV, EM90 people carrier and S90 saloon are assembled in China.
Volvo also builds its XC40 and EX40 SUV in China, but also builds them in Belgium for sale in Europe and the UK.
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