A Chinese Car Group Most UK Drivers Have Never Heard Of Now Sells Nearly 1 In 15 New Cars On British Roads

If someone told you two years ago that a Chinese car company would be outselling Vauxhall, Nissan and Peugeot in the UK by spring 2026, you would have been right to be sceptical. But the latest SMMT registration data confirms that Chery International, the parent company behind OMODA, JAECOO and the CHERY brand, recorded a combined 6.73% market share in April. That is 10,052 cars in a single month. Nearly one in every fifteen new cars registered on British roads last month carried a badge most drivers still could not identify.

The speed of this growth has no precedent in the modern UK car market. OMODA arrived in August 2024. JAECOO followed in January 2025. The CHERY brand launched in August 2025. In under two years, the group has built a 124-strong dealer network, sold more than 80,000 cars and established itself as one of the largest new car operations in the country. A fourth brand, LEPAS, is due to arrive later this year with its flagship L8 model expected in the third quarter of 2026.

For consumers, the question is no longer whether Chinese car brands are a serious presence in the UK market. They are. The question now is what that means for the cars you can buy, the prices you will pay and the long-term ownership experience that comes with choosing a brand that barely existed here two years ago.

What Chery International Actually Sells

The group runs three separate brands in the UK, each with its own dealer network and model range.

JAECOO is the volume leader. It registered 3,877 cars in April for a 2.60% market share. Its best seller, the Jaecoo 7, was the single best-selling new car in the entire UK market in March 2026, outselling the Ford Puma, the Volkswagen Golf and every other model on sale. In April it was beaten to the top spot but remains one of the highest-selling individual models year to date. The Jaecoo range is focused on mid-size SUVs with petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The Jaecoo 5 starts from around £24,500.

OMODA registered 3,275 cars in April for a 2.19% share. Its lineup spans the Omoda 5 in petrol, electric and hybrid forms, plus the larger Omoda 7 plug-in hybrid at just over £30,000. The electric Omoda E5 gives the brand a foothold in the battery electric market.

The CHERY brand registered 2,900 cars for a 1.94% share. Its entry point is the Tiggo 4, a compact SUV starting from £19,990, which makes it one of the cheapest new cars on sale in the UK. The range also includes the five-seat Tiggo 7 and the seven-seat Tiggo 8.

Across all three brands, the strategy is the same: high specification as standard, competitive pricing and a spread of petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains that covers the segments where most UK buyers are currently shopping.

How 6.73% Compares

To put that April figure in context, consider where other brands sit. BYD, probably the best-known Chinese car brand globally thanks to its dominance in electric vehicles, recorded a 3.47% UK market share across the first quarter of 2026. Chery International is running at nearly double that.

The 6.73% figure also places Chery International’s combined brands in the territory occupied by long-established manufacturers. Brands that have spent decades building dealer networks, customer loyalty and brand recognition in the UK are now being matched or overtaken by a group that opened its first British showroom less than two years ago.

The growth is not slowing down either. March saw a record month for the group, with OMODA and JAECOO alone registering 17,951 cars as buyers took advantage of the new 76-plate. April’s 10,052 registrations came without a plate change to drive footfall, suggesting that the sales momentum is broadening beyond those seasonal spikes.

What Buyers Get For The Money

The pricing is where Chery International’s strategy becomes most visible. The Tiggo 4 at £19,990 undercuts almost everything in the compact SUV segment. The Jaecoo 5 at around £24,500 and the Jaecoo 7 from around £27,000 sit thousands of pounds below equivalently sized and specified models from established European and Korean brands.

Standard specification across the range tends to include features that rivals charge extra for or reserve for higher trim levels. The emphasis on value for money is deliberate and it is clearly working, given the registration numbers.

Backing up the pricing is a warranty that matches the best in the industry. OMODA and JAECOO offer a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty with no mileage cap for the first three years. That matches Kia’s industry-leading cover and roughly doubles what most European manufacturers provide. There is also a 12-year body perforation warranty and an eight-year high-voltage battery warranty on hybrid and electric models. The warranty transfers to subsequent owners for the remainder of the term, which should help with resale confidence.

The Questions That Still Need Answering

None of this means buyers should treat Chery International’s brands as a guaranteed safe bet. The models are new to the UK, and long-term reliability data simply does not exist yet in this market. Early Chery models in other markets faced criticism for interior material quality and build consistency, though the company has invested heavily in closing that gap and the current generation of cars is widely regarded as a significant step forward.

Resale values are the other unknown. A seven-year warranty helps, but residual values for new brands take time to establish. Buyers who plan to sell or trade in after three or four years may find that the market discounts these cars more heavily than it would an equivalent Hyundai, Kia or Volkswagen, simply because the brand does not yet have a track record in the UK.

The 124-strong dealer network is impressive for a brand group that has been in the country for less than two years, but it is still smaller than the networks operated by the major manufacturers. Depending on where you live, your nearest dealer may not be as close as it would be for a Ford or a Toyota.

These are not reasons to avoid the cars. They are reasons to go in with your eyes open and to factor the unknowns into your buying decision alongside the price advantage.

Why It Matters For Everyone

Even if you have no intention of buying an OMODA, a JAECOO or a CHERY, the group’s growth affects the market you are buying into. When a new competitor arrives and takes nearly 7% of the market in under two years on the back of aggressive pricing and high specification, every other manufacturer has to respond. That response typically comes in the form of better deals, more standard equipment and sharper finance offers across the board.

The arrival of well-equipped, competitively priced Chinese cars is one of the reasons the UK new car market is becoming more competitive for buyers right now. Whether you end up choosing one of these brands or using their existence as leverage when negotiating on something else entirely, the effect is the same: more car for your money than there was two years ago.

Chery International’s CEO Gary Lan framed the milestone as the result of a deliberate long-term strategy. “Chery International made a deliberate decision to wait more than 20 years before entering the UK market, ensuring we had the right technology, the right products and the right foundations in place,” he said. “What we are seeing now is the result of that strategy coming together.”

With LEPAS, the group’s fourth brand, due to arrive later this year, the pace of expansion shows no sign of slowing. For UK car buyers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: the market has more competition, more choice and more pressure on prices than it has had in years. And a significant part of that pressure is coming from a company most people still cannot name.

Sources:

• SMMT, new car registrations April 2026
• OMODA UK
• JAECOO UK
• Carwow, best-selling cars April 2026
• Carwow, every Chery model in the UK ranked