The UK’s Five Fastest-Growing Car Brands Are Now All Chinese

For years we have been talking about Chinese car manufacturers “coming” to Britain.

I think we can probably stop now.

They’re here, they’re selling cars in increasingly serious numbers and, for the first time, the five fastest-growing car brands in the UK by year-on-year unit increase are all Chinese newcomers.

According to analysis by Broker News using the latest registration figures, Jaecoo, BYD, Chery, Omoda and Geelyoccupy all five of the top positions.

And this isn’t happening within a struggling car market either.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says 1,294,499 new cars were registered in the UK between January and July 2026, an increase of 9.5% on the same period last year. July alone was up 11.7%, making it the strongest July since 2019.

Something pretty significant is changing.

The five fastest-growing car brands in Britain

Based on the additional number of cars registered during the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, Broker News puts the five biggest gainers at:

1. Jaecoo: +29,255
2. BYD: +21,824
3. Chery: +21,191
4. Omoda: +13,349
5. Geely: +8,160

These aren't necessarily the five biggest manufacturers in Britain. The figures represent the increase in registrations year on year.

That's important, but it arguably makes the result even more interesting.

These are brands building market share at a pace that most established manufacturers simply aren't matching.

Jaecoo has gone from unknown to one of Britain’s biggest-selling cars

Jaecoo is perhaps the most remarkable of the five.

A couple of years ago, very few British motorists would have recognised the badge. Today, the Jaecoo 7 is the third most registered new car in Britain so far in 2026.

SMMT figures show 26,549 Jaecoo 7s were registered between January and July, putting it behind only the Ford Puma and Kia Sportage and ahead of hugely established names including the Nissan Qashqai, Vauxhall Corsa and Volkswagen Golf.

And Jaecoo isn't relying on one model.

In July, the Jaecoo 5 was already the seventh most registered car in the country, while the electric Jaecoo E5 became the third most registered battery-electric car of the month.

That's extraordinary progress for a badge that has barely had time to become familiar.

Jaecoo is part of the Chery Group, which becomes important when we look further down the fastest-growing list.

BYD is rapidly becoming a mainstream name

Next comes BYD.

Of all the newer Chinese manufacturers, BYD is probably the one British motorists are becoming most accustomed to seeing.

Its UK expansion has been relentless, moving from the Atto 3, Dolphin and Seal into a far broader range of electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

Broker News calculates that BYD alone now has around 3.4% of the UK new car market year to date.

Three or four years ago, that would have seemed incredibly ambitious for a manufacturer with very little recognition among mainstream British car buyers.

Today, BYD is increasingly being cross-shopped with brands such as Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, Tesla and Toyota rather than being viewed simply as the unusual Chinese alternative.

And BYD isn't planning to remain a single-brand operation here.

Its more premium Denza brand is expected to expand the group's presence further, targeting a different part of the market from the mainstream BYD range.

Chery might actually be the biggest story of all

Third place belongs to Chery itself, but this is where things get particularly interesting.

Because Jaecoo and Omoda also belong to Chery.

That means the brands sitting first, third and fourth in the UK growth rankings all come from the same automotive group.

Rather than trying to make one badge appeal to everybody, Chery is effectively attacking the market from several directions.

Omoda has positioned itself around striking design, technology and value.

Jaecoo has gone after the SUV market with a slightly more rugged and upmarket image.

And now Chery itself is becoming a consumer-facing brand in Britain.

Combined, Broker News estimates the Chery operation has reached around 6.4% of the UK new car market so far this year.

To put that into perspective, we're not talking about an experimental new entrant selling a handful of cars through a small number of dealers anymore.

This is becoming one of the major automotive groups operating in Britain.

And yet another Chery Group brand, Lepas, is waiting in the wings.

Omoda helped pave the way

Omoda deserves some credit of its own.

It was one of the first badges from the latest wave of Chinese manufacturers to make a concerted push into Britain and helped introduce UK customers to the wider Chery organisation.

The Omoda 5 arrived with precisely the sort of proposition that has become characteristic of these brands: distinctive styling, plenty of equipment and aggressive pricing.

It also demonstrated something important.

British buyers don't necessarily need decades of heritage before they'll consider a new manufacturer.

If the car looks good, the specification is competitive, the monthly payment makes sense and there's a dealer nearby, that unfamiliar badge can become familiar remarkably quickly.

That could have serious implications for manufacturers that have traditionally relied heavily on brand loyalty.

Geely finally puts its own name on UK cars

Then there's Geely.

Calling Geely an automotive newcomer isn't entirely accurate.

The wider Geely organisation is already deeply embedded in the European car industry, with brands including Volvo Cars, Polestar, Lotus, Zeekr, Lynk & Co and LEVC sitting within its wider automotive ecosystem. Geely itself says its UK operation entered the market in 2025 with the EX5 and is continuing to expand its dealer and service network.

What's new is seeing the Geely badge itself on British roads.

Having spent time with both the Geely EX5 and, more recently, the smaller EX2, I can understand why the company appears confident about its chances here.

These don't feel like products trying to compete solely by being cheaper.

The quality, interior space, technology and presentation are increasingly capable of standing up against established European, Japanese and Korean alternatives.

Broker News calculates that Geely's wider group of car brands accounts for around 4.5% of the UK market year to date.

And there is another name worth remembering: Zeekr.

Geely is already recruiting specifically for Zeekr's UK operation, suggesting another of the group's brands is being prepared for a more substantial British presence.

And don’t forget MG

There's a rather obvious Chinese-owned manufacturer missing from that fastest-growing top five.

MG.

That's largely because MG has already moved beyond being a new entrant.

Owned by SAIC Motor, MG has spent years building itself into an established part of the British market and Broker News puts its current share at around 4.3%.

The MG HS was Britain's fifth most registered car during July 2026 and sits seventh in the year-to-date chart.

In some ways, MG has already demonstrated what brands such as BYD, Jaecoo, Omoda, Chery and Geely are trying to achieve.

Eventually, buyers stop thinking about where the company comes from and simply start considering the car alongside everything else.

This isn't just a Chinese EV story

There's also a temptation to lump all this growth into the rise of the “Chinese EV”.

That's becoming far too simplistic.

Electric cars are undoubtedly growing quickly.

Battery-electric registrations increased by 44.5% in July 2026, giving EVs 27.5% of the month's market. Across the first seven months of the year, 327,683 battery-electric cars were registered, up 28.7% year on year.

But several Chinese brands have also recognised that plenty of British drivers aren't ready to go fully electric.

Plug-in hybrids grew 37.7% year to date, while conventional hybrids increased by 10.3%.

The success of cars such as the Jaecoo 7 illustrates why offering several powertrain choices could prove so important.

Chinese manufacturers aren't simply betting everything on Britain becoming electric overnight.

They're competing for the entire car market.

Chinese-owned brands are growing faster than the market itself

Perhaps the most striking statistic comes when all of these brands are considered together.

Broker News calculates that Chinese-owned manufacturers registered more than 253,000 cars during the first seven months of 2026, representing almost 20% of the market.

During July alone, their combined share reached around 22.5%.

Even more remarkably, Broker News estimates Chinese-owned brands added more than 114,000 registrations compared with last year, while the entire UK market grew by around 112,000 cars.

In simple terms, their growth is greater than the growth of the market itself.

That inevitably means somebody else is being squeezed.

Some familiar manufacturers are moving backwards

While the newcomers accelerate, several established brands are losing registrations.

Broker News identifies Nissan, Peugeot, Hyundai, Mazda and SEAT as the five manufacturers recording the biggest year-to-date unit declines.

Nissan is down 8,684 registrations, Peugeot by 8,229 and Hyundai by 4,815. Mazda and SEAT complete the bottom five.

The picture becomes even more interesting when you look at the major manufacturer groups.

Stellantis registrations have increased overall thanks partly to brands including Citroën, Vauxhall and Chinese newcomer Leapmotor, yet Broker News says its market share has still slipped slightly.

Volkswagen Group registrations are also up thanks to stronger performances from Audi, Škoda and Cupra, but its share has fallen from 21.7% to 20.1%.

That's the important distinction.

A manufacturer can sell more cars than it did last year and still lose ground if its competitors are growing considerably faster.

MINI is having a surprisingly good year

There are some established brands bucking the trend.

One interesting example is MINI.

Broker News calculates MINI registrations have increased by 7,750 cars so far this year, while BMW itself has fallen by 2,652.

The MINI Cooper also appeared ninth in July's overall best-selling chart.

With a refreshed range including the Cooper, Aceman and Countryman, it's a reminder that established manufacturers aren't powerless against the newcomers.

The product still matters.

Why are Chinese cars proving so popular?

Price is obviously part of the answer, but I think calling Chinese cars simply “cheap” increasingly misses the point.

Many of these manufacturers aren't necessarily trying to undercut every competitor.

They're trying to make buyers feel they're getting more for their money.

Large infotainment displays, surround-view cameras, heated seats, panoramic roofs, extensive driver assistance technology and lengthy equipment lists are commonplace.

More importantly, development cycles seem incredibly quick.

A new brand can arrive with one model and suddenly have three or four cars on sale before many people have even become familiar with the original.

Jaecoo is perhaps the perfect example.

The Jaecoo 7 established the brand, the Jaecoo 5 followed and the electric E5 is already appearing near the top of the EV registrations chart.

Traditional manufacturers are being forced to respond to competitors moving at a very different pace.

Should British car buyers be concerned?

I don't think being Chinese should automatically be considered either a positive or a negative when choosing a car.

The same basic buying checks still apply.

Is there a convenient dealer? What's the warranty like? How expensive will it be to insure? Is the finance or lease competitive? What happens if you need parts? How strong is the manufacturer likely to be in five years' time?

Residual values will also take time to become clearer for some of the newest brands.

But dismissing a car simply because you've never heard of the badge before is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.

Some of these manufacturers are enormous global companies with engineering resources that rival or exceed many of the brands British drivers have known for decades.

The Chinese car invasion has already happened

There will inevitably be winners and losers among this huge influx of manufacturers.

Not every Chinese badge arriving in Britain will still be here in ten years.

But the idea that Chinese manufacturers are merely coming to disrupt the British car industry now feels outdated.

MG is already established.

BYD is rapidly becoming mainstream.

Jaecoo has one of Britain's best-selling cars.

Chery is building an enormous multi-brand operation.

Omoda continues to grow.

Geely has put its own badge into UK showrooms while simultaneously sitting behind some of Europe's most recognisable automotive names.

And Denza, Lepas and Zeekr could add even more choice.

The question is no longer whether Chinese manufacturers can persuade British drivers to buy their cars.

The registration figures suggest they've already answered that.

The much more interesting question is just how much of the UK market they can take.

Figures based on SMMT new car registration data to the end of July 2026 and market analysis published by Broker News.