Chinese leap ahead of Japanese in UK after sales surge

Chinese cars have now comprehensively overtaken Japanese cars in the UK sales chart, thanks to a jump in registrations from Chery, MG and BYD. These contributed towards a 14.6% share for Chinese brands in the first three months of 2026, rising to 16.5% April, according to data the Socety of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. By contrast, the share of Japanese brands, led by Toyota and Nissan, fell to 12.4% across the first four months of 2026 and 9.3% in April. Much of China’s success is coming from electric and hybrid sales. BYD claimed to have topped the EV charts in the UK year to date and in April, overtaking Tesla. The sales chart for plug-in hybrids was dominated by Chinese cars in April. They occupied the first six positions, led by the Jaecoo 7, BYD Seal U, Chery Tiggo 8 and Geely Starray EM-i. The sheer speed at which Chinese brands have captured market share in the UK is unprecedented. For example, the Geely brand didn’t exist in the UK this time last year but in April it took a 1.1% market share, with 1649 sales, putting it above Honda for the month. Leading the charge are the brands of Chery International, namely Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda, which together took a 6.7% share in April. That was enough to leapfrog established players like BMW, Kia and Toyota – an extraordinary achievement after arriving in the market less than two years ago. Chery International shot into the headlines when the Jaecoo 7 became the UK’s best-selling car in March, and it's continuing to expand its SUV-only line-up, introducing its new Lepas brand to the UK this autumn. The company was comfortably the UK’s largest seller of PHEVs in the first four months, ahead of BYD. Chinese brands have won new customers with generous equipment levels and list prices that undercut established players. Discounts on top have added to the appeal, making life hard for the incumbents as they try to navigate the electric transition while maintaining profit margins. In April, Kia said it had to abandon its plan to decrease incentives on its EVs in western Europe due to price pressure from the Chinese. “We couldn't keep the promises we made. That's because Chinese players have attacked our profitability with low-priced EVs,” CFO Seung Jun Kim told analysts on the company’s first-quarter results call. Kim said that on average a Kia EV was 25% more expensive than the Chinese equivalent, requiring incentives to keep up. “We will maintain the [incentive level of Q1 in order to increase the market share,” he added. Kia fell short of matching BYD on EV sales in April by just a single registration. Together, the Korean brands (Kia, Hyundai, Genesis and KGM) increased their share of the UK market in April to 10.1%, overtaking the Japanese. The loss of share for the Japanese is concerning, given that both Toyota and Nissan build cars in the UK, raising the question as to whether the UK should match the EU and raise tariffs on Chinese-built EVs. The government plans to keep the tariff levels low, thus widening the choice and lowering prices for consumers, as well as making the UK a tempting place for the Chinese to invest, as the Japanese originally did. Chery and Nissan’s Chinese joint-venture partner Dongfeng are reportedly interested in piggybacking existing UK facilities to build cars here. However, Reform MP Robert Jenrick has railed against “unfair” Chinese competition and promised to put up barriers to imports, telling the BBC in April: "If Beijing continues to cheat, the UK will introduce tariffs and quotas to protect jobs across the country." Labour has chosen instead to give European EV manufacturers a leg-up via the Electric Car Grant, which implicitly excludes Chinese manufacturers through a complicated measurement of the environmental impact involved in producing batteries and cars.

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Chinese leap ahead of Japanese in UK after sales surge

Jump in registrations from Chery, MG and BYD have put them comfortably ahead of Toyota and Nissan

More from Autocar

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Chinese leap ahead of Japanese in UK after sales surge

Jump in registrations from Chery, MG and BYD have put them comfortably ahead of Toyota and Nissan

More from Autocar

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