Chinese brands take 23.3% of UK car sales as Jaecoo 7 tops September

Chinese brands accounted for 81,776 of the 350,518 new cars registered in the UK in September, a 23.3% share and more than double their volume a year earlier, according to SMMT figures published on 2 October and analysed by GoodCarBadCar. The Jaecoo 7 was the country’s best-selling car and BYD was the second-biggest brand, behind only Volkswagen. For anyone shopping for an electric car, it matters because the cars behind this growth are largely built in China, get no help from the Electric Car Grant, and are being sold with maker-funded discounts that put pressure on prices across the market. The next model in the pipeline is covered in our Omoda 4 UK launch report.

September is a number-plate change month and one of the two busiest of the year. The overall market grew by about 12%, and the SMMT said it was the best September since 2017. Battery-electric cars also hit a record 99,199 registrations, up 36.3%, for 28.3% of the market.

How fast is the Chinese share growing?

In September 2025, Chinese brands registered 38,934 cars, about 12.4% of a smaller market. A year on, their volume has more than doubled and their share has risen by almost 11 percentage points.

Period	Chinese-brand registrations	Share of UK new car market
September 2025	38,934	About 12.4%
September 2026	81,776	23.3%

The September total is spread across 15 Chinese brands. Some, like MG, have been on sale here for years; others are new arrivals that most UK buyers had not heard of until recently. Our guide to the Chinese EV brands now on sale in the UK covers who they are and how their cars compare.

Which Chinese brands are selling most?

BYD was the standout, with 20,140 registrations putting it second among all makes, ahead of Kia on 18,399, according to Carwow. BYD UK’s own count is slightly lower, at 20,129, and we cover that in more detail in BYD’s record September. MG was close behind on 18,026, its first month above 18,000 UK registrations, as we report in MG’s record September.

Brand	Chinese brand?	September 2026 registrations	Share of market
Volkswagen	No	25,972	7.4%
BYD	Yes	20,140	5.7%
Kia	No	18,399	5.2%
MG	Yes	18,026	5.1%
Jaecoo	Yes	15,057	4.3%
Omoda	Yes	7,241	2.1%
All 15 Chinese brands	Yes	81,776	23.3%

Shares are calculated by EV Compared from the 350,518 total. Jaecoo and Omoda both belong to the Chery group, which also sells Chery and Lepas models in the UK, and the four brands together outsold Volkswagen in September.

Over the year so far, MG is just short of 80,000 registrations, BYD is on about 68,000 and Jaecoo about 59,000, according to GoodCarBadCar.

At model level, the Jaecoo 7 topped the chart with 10,814 registrations, ahead of the Tesla Model 3 on 9,929 and the Ford Puma on 6,958. That lifted the Jaecoo 7 to second in the year-to-date rankings with 39,473 registrations, 3,453 behind the Ford Puma on 42,926.

Are these Chinese cars electric?

Not necessarily, and the headline figure does not tell you. The 81,776 figure covers every fuel type. Chinese brands sell petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models alongside their EVs, and the brand totals published on 2 October were not split by powertrain. So it is not possible to say from these figures how many of September’s 99,199 battery-electric cars came from Chinese brands.

What the figures do show is that the best-selling car in the country was not the best-selling EV: that title went to the Tesla Model 3, second overall on 9,929. If you are drawn to a Chinese brand because you want an EV, check exactly which version you are being quoted for.

Why do Chinese-built cars miss out on the Electric Car Grant?

The Electric Car Grant, worth up to £3,750, is tied to the environmental standards of the factory that builds the car. Lilian Greenwood, speaking as transport minister, said she did not expect any car assembled in China to be eligible, explaining that “if you generate a lot of the electricity that powers your factory through coal power stations, then you are not going to be able to access this grant”, as reported by Fleet News.

The Chinese brands have responded with their own money. BYD, Omoda and Jaecoo have offered their own discounts in place of the grant, according to Electric Car Scheme. Our list of EVs eligible for the Electric Car Grant shows which models do qualify. Beijing’s new curbs on overseas discounting could change that, as we explain in China’s export price war rules and UK deals.

The striking thing about September is that Chinese brands more than doubled their volume without the government’s help. That suggests their prices and equipment are competitive enough to win buyers even when a rival car carries a grant.

Will the UK put tariffs on Chinese cars?

Not yet. On 5 October, electrive reported that ministers were considering tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese EVs, similar to the EU’s. The EU’s anti-subsidy tariffs have been in place since October 2024. The UK has so far used subsidy rules, through the grant, to favour cars built outside China rather than taxing imports.

No new tariff has been announced. For now, Chinese-built cars pay the standard 10% import duty.

What does this mean for prices, discounts and resale values?

Three things follow for buyers.

Price pressure on established brands. With Chinese brands funding their own discounts and taking almost a quarter of the market, rivals have to compete hard on price, and a grant on a European or Korean car is no longer an automatic price advantage.

Discounts that could change. A maker-funded discount is a commercial decision, not a government scheme, so it can be changed or withdrawn at any time. If tariffs arrive, the room for those discounts would shrink.

Resale values remain the open question. As our guide to EV depreciation explains, residual values depend partly on brand familiarity, and many of the 15 Chinese brands are too new in the UK to have a long used-car track record. Heavy new-car discounting can also weigh on used prices. That matters most on PCP finance, where the predicted future value sets your monthly payment.

What this means for you

Chinese brands are now a mainstream part of the UK market rather than a niche, and we think any buyer looking for value should have them on the shortlist. The September figures show that plenty of people are already choosing them over cars that come with a government grant.

But compare carefully. Put the Chinese car’s price after its maker discount against a rival’s price after the Electric Car Grant, check whether you are being quoted for a pure EV or a hybrid, and look at the guaranteed future value on any PCP deal as closely as the monthly payment. There is no confirmed tariff, so there is no reason to rush an order on that basis alone, but a discount on offer today is not guaranteed to be there in six months.