A Chinese car manufacturer yet to launch has been named by dealers as the most likely to succeed on the UK market.
Xpeng gets the nod among the host of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers heading for Britain, ahead of Omoda, which is just launching its first cars, and BYD which has been on sale in the UK for the past year.
According to data compiled by Startline Motor Finance, 36% of dealers back Xpeng to make the biggest impact on UK buyers, with Omoda on 34%, BYD on 31% and then Lynk & Co (24%) and Nio (24%).
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Business Motoring Award Winners 2024
Xpeng most recently launched in Germany and is expected to make its UK debut later in 2024, as well as going on sale in France and Italy. Whereas German buyers are being offered the G9 SUV and P7 saloon, the initial model in the right-hand drive UK market is expected to be the G6 crossover.
Analysing the figures Startline Motor Finance CEO Paul Burgess commented that while it can seem as though a new Chinese EV entrant to the UK car market is announced every week, the research shows that dealers are starting to build up a picture of which brands they think are the most credible.
“Xpeng is an interesting result at the top of the table; although they have just launched in Germany, they are not expected to arrive in the UK later this year, while other brands such as BYD and GWM ORA already have cars on UK roads – dealers obviously see some potential there,” Burgess said.
He added that dealer perceptions of these manufacturers might not just be shaped by press coverage and the models they are selling but the fact that some are in the process of creating franchise dealer networks. “All of the top three in our results are, we believe, adopting a traditional franchise model for their sales and support networks, so at least some dealers in our survey are likely to be actively talking to these manufacturers about their UK strategies.
“What will be interesting over the medium term, of course, is which of these new entrants are able to not just gain a foothold in the UK market but maintain a presence over time. The Financial Times recently forecast that out of 50 companies making electric vehicles in China, only a dozen were expected to survive until the end of the decade. It is a ferociously competitive market.”