Chinese car sales in the UK doubled last year in a major blow to Britain's automotive industry. Almost 200,000 Chinese-branded cars entered UK roads in 2025, representing almost one in ten of the vehicles sold and registered in the UK. It marked a staggering increase from the 98,000 sold in 2024, according to registration data shared with the Daily Mail.
The actual number of Chinese-made vehicles hitting UK roads was much higher when you factor in the thousands of cars manufactured in China by companies like Tesla and BMW for lower costs. This increases the figure to around one in seven of all cars sold last year, equivalent to about 270,000 vehicles, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
This could be devastating for British manufacturers, who have already lost iconic marques to global brands. MG was sold to the Chinese company SAIC in 2007, and in 2017, 51% of the British-founded Lotus was sold to another Chinese brand, Geely.
Lotus still has a manufacturing factory in the UK, but while MG cars are designed and engineered in the UK, most models are now manufactured in China.
When its Longbridge factory was closed in 2005, Tony Woodley from the Transport and General Workers Union described it as the "darkest day in the history of the British car industry", with 6,000 losing their jobs.
Brits still clearly have an attachment to MG, as it was the most popular Chinese-manufactured brand sold in the UK last year. The MG HS was the best-selling Chinese car, with 30,191 registrations in 2025.
Matthias Schmidt, an analyst tracking electric cars across Europe, warned about the loss of British brands, telling The Guardian: “With no genuine domestic volume brands for UK consumers to choose from, UK consumers crucially can no longer participate in what is known as patriotic purchasing."
China seems to be dominating one market in particular: electric cars. In 2025, around one in eight new electric vehicles (EVs) were from a Chinese brand, up from one in 12 the year prior, according to the SMMT.
BYD, which launched in 2023, sold 51,422 vehicles in the UK last year, primarily EVs, more than five times the 8,800 sold the previous year.
Another Chinese brand, Jaecoo, achieved higher sales figures than classic legacy brands such as Jeep, Seat and Citroen last year. It accounted for 1.4% of sales in the UK, compared to just 0.5% for Jeep. Omoda's 19,855 sales also surpassed the likes of Porsche, Suzuki and Lexus.
Britain also lost its iconic Mini and Rolls-Royce brands to German-owned BMW in 2000 and 2002, while Jaguar and Land Rover were purchased by Indian brand Tata in 2008. All still have factories in the UK.