British buyers keep leaning into Chinese cars, and the Jaecoo 7 just reclaimed the UK's best-seller slot. It first hit number one in March, then slipped, before retaking the lead in September by outpacing the Ford Puma and Kia Sportage. Industry figures released Friday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders show the Jaecoo 7 racked up more than 10,800 registrations last month. On the road for less than two years, the SUV has become a familiar sight thanks to its distinctive grille and a social-media nickname that stuck: the "Temu Range Rover," a nod to its budget-luxury vibe.
Built in China by Chery Automobile Co., the Jaecoo 7 starts at around £30,000 ($39,600) and is offered as a combustion-engine model or a plug-in hybrid. Chery's UK mix skews heavily toward plug-in hybrids, with only a small slice fully electric and nearly a quarter using combustion engines. The lineup expanded this year with the Jaecoo 8, and when that and other models are included, the brand reached a 4.3% market share in September.
Unlike the European Union, the UK has not added extra tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrids are not currently hit by trade levies, though the EU may extend duties to them. Last month, an executive at Nissan Motor Co. warned that the UK may have to mirror those tariffs to secure parity under the EU's local-content rules.
Still, Chery's leadership sounds unfazed. Speaking on behalf of Jaecoo and Omoda in the UK, Victor Zhang, the managing director, said, "Tariffs come and go but it won't change our investment in the UK." "We are here to stay." Zhang cited a Nissan-signed memorandum of understanding to assess having Chery build vehicles at Nissan's Sunderland facility, the nation's biggest car factory.
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September is one of the UK's peak car-buying months because fresh registration plates lift demand, with March as the other big one. Chinese brands collectively captured 23% of the market in September, with BYD Co. near 6% of registrations. Tesla Inc., rebounding from last year's slump, accounted for 4.5% of the month's new-car market with almost 16,000 sales. For everyday investors, the scoreboard is shifting: Chinese marques are gaining ground fast, legacy players are recalibrating, and the brands winning share now are the ones connecting with buyers on price and practicality.
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