LONDON — Chinese automakers stepped up their push into the United Kingdom (UK) last month, closing in on a 10% market share for the first time as demand for BYD (Build Your Dreams) Co electric models continues to boom.
Brands whose vehicles are manufactured in China cornered 9.4% of the British new car market in May, up from 7.7% the month earlier, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders trade body.
The charge was led by BYD, which saw a 408% jump in sales in May from a year earlier. China’s share was boosted by new entrants such as Chery Automobile Co's Omoda and Jaecoo brands and a revival by Polestar, which is controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu’s Geely and makes most of its cars in China.
Chinese brands are making big inroads in the UK, which last year overtook Germany to become Europe’s largest electric-vehicle (EV) market amid robust demand for next-generation models. The UK hasn’t followed the European Union (EU) in introducing tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, making it a more lucrative market to sell into.
Another draw is the UK’s lack of a local carmaker producing EVs for the masses, according to Felipe Munoz, an analyst at auto research firm Jato Dynamics. That has given Chinese brands a clearer path to gaining popularity, he said.
The progress by other Chinese carmakers came even as UK sales of SAIC’s MG (Morris Garages) fell 8.3% in May. The former British brand still had the largest share of any Chinese company at 4.4%.
Chinese carmakers are capitalizing on a collapse in sales at Tesla Inc, as Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk struggles to arrest a slump in demand. Tesla’s UK sales dropped 36% in May from a year earlier, even as overall sales of fully EVs rose 26%.
Still, Tesla’s UK performance was not as bad as in other countries such as France, where new-vehicle registrations plummeted by more than two-thirds.