When it comes to choosing a new car, buyers will want different things.
Some desire luxury, others need space for a big family and then there are the motorists who will settle only for a car that’s fun to drive.
But high up the list for almost all prospective buyers is value for money.
It’s no surprise then that the wave of keenly priced Chinese cars landing in the UK have proved a big hit.
I can’t deny the appeal. As a motoring journalist, I’ve driven Chinese EVs and plug-in hybrids over thousands of miles and often find myself thinking that if you want a new car, you’d be bonkers not to buy one of these.
Unsurprisingly, the growth in sales of Chinese cars in Britain has been stratospheric.
Behind the wheel: Freda Lewis-Stempel has been testing Chinese cars, including the Omoda 9 plug-in hybrid (pictured). Here’s our motoring reporter’s verdict on the best…and worst
From a standing start a few years ago, one in ten new electric cars sold in the UK last year were made in China.
Why are people buying Chinese? Primarily because these cars offer the same technology, practicality, comfort and efficiency for sometimes £10,000 less than you’d pay for a similar model from a legacy European marque.
I’ve also noticed how quickly Chinese makers are tweaking cars for British-centric driving tastes and habits.
There are now cars from 12 Chinese brands on offer in the UK, including the revived famous British marque MG, but which are the ones to buy?
Here are five cars I’ve been left impressed with, a couple that left me lukewarm and I’d strike from a potential purchase list … and one I’ve avoided driving because it’s reputed to be so bad.
CHINESE CARS I WOULD BUY
‘A Tesla Model 3 rival’
MG IM5
Price: From £39,450
Technically the IM5 is an MG, but you won’t see that badge as this sleek EV sails silently past.
Instead, you’ll see an IM emblem, which stands for ‘Intelligence in Motion’. This arm of MG is a tie-up between parent company SAIC and Chinese e-commerce and R&D companies.
The IM5 hooked me last summer as a sexier Tesla Model 3 rival, delivering 0 to 62mph in a blistering 3.2 seconds, thanks to the astonishing 740bhp delivered by its punchy electric motors.
With its low centre of gravity, the IM5 handles well and is great fun to drive.
But as spicy as its acceleration is, the IM5 scores more points elsewhere. It has 357 miles of range (up to 441 with the Long Range version), 396kW ultra-rapid charging, and futuristic tech.
All of which turns this saloon-like EV into an affordable sporty package to snap up.
‘The mile muncher’
Omoda 9 SHS
Price: £44,990
Omoda is one of Chinese car making giant Chery’s SUV marques. Its sister brand, Jaecoo, has become famous for its Range Rover Velar lookalike, more on which later.
The large plug-in hybrid Omoda 9 SHS has two stats that leave German rivals quaking: its 700-mile combined electric and petrol range and the electric-only range of 93 miles.
Having driven it across seven countries last summer, without draining the fuel tank, I can confirm the ‘Super Hybrid System’ leaves competitors in the dust.
It’s also around £10,000 cheaper than rival German SUVs such as the Mercedes GLC and Audi Q5. With a powerful 442hp when you need to put your foot down, it’s good on the road.
But it’s Omoda’s ‘everything as standard’ principle where you will really see your money well spent – the car comes dressed to the nines with comfort and technology features.
‘A proper electric sportscar’
MG Cyberster
Price: From £55,245
MG’s relaunch into the UK has been a success, with buyers snapping up its cheap and capable small cars, SUVs and estates.
But they are a far cry from the sporting little MGs that made the British legend’s name in its heyday from the 1930s to the 1960s.
In a bold move, however, MG launched an electric sports car in 2024. The MG Cyberster brings the roadsters of old into the EV era and the brand deserves a lot of credit for pulling this move off.
Put the roof down on a summer’s day and the Cyberster awakens driving emotions naysayers believed EVs could never provide.
The world needed a fun electric car. The MG Cyberster delivers by being a two-seat EV that’s nostalgic, stylish, and has unexpected features like arrow rear lights and even scissor doors so striking they can stop traffic.
It’s not cheap, but if you’ve got £55,000 to splash out make sure you pick English White with the Red Hood.
‘Sustainable luxury with no rear window’
Polestar 4
Price: From £55,750
Polestar is the sister brand to Volvo and has swiftly established itself as Scandi-cool via China.
Both are majority owned by Chinese brand Geely, and the Polestar 4 electric four-door coupe is made in Hangzhou Bay, China. The Polestar 4 has become defined by one feature. It’s the ‘car with no rear window’ – and was the first in the UK to have a digital rear-view mirror instead.
But it’s not just this forward-thinking design – which apparently increases rear headroom, in case you wonder why –that makes it stand out.
The performance coupe has one of the best interiors in terms of quality and style I’ve sat in for a long time.
It also has a low carbon footprint you can track to the nth degree via Polestar’s published life cycle assessment.
And it’s not just me who’s sold. Britain’s middle-classes love Polestar, which saw UK sales rise 90 per cent last year.
‘The off-roader’
Icaur V23
Price: To be confirmed
The V23 isn’t on sale yet in the UK but should be coming soon. However, my exclusive test drive of this fun 4×4 to China’s city of Wuhu left me too infatuated not to include it on my list.
Made for young people ‘willing to try something new’, Icaur is a collaboration between Chery and Chinese home appliance giant Smartmi Tech. The V23 is Icaur’s first global model.
It looks fabulous, mixing Ford Bronco, G-Wagon and Suzuki Jimny in a boxy little shape. The interior has aluminium dials, cockpit overhead buttons, and grab handles.
And it’s not all about the looks. You can adjust the pitch, roll, and power for proper off-roading.
If, and when, the Icaur arrives here, expect up to 260 miles of range and a cheap price tag of around £22,000.
THOSE THAT LEFT ME LUKEWARM
‘It’s no Tesla’
BYD Sealion 7
Price: From £47,025
The Sealion 7 is BYD’s fourth all-electric model in the UK, but I was a bit underwhelmed.
The Sealion’s Advance Driver Assistance System is meant to improve safety and driving convenience but irritated me. Its ride was quite poor for the relatively high price and the range of between 283 and 312 miles wasn’t enough to compensate for that.
It’s spacious, with a 520-litre boot and a 58-litre so-called ‘frunk’, aka a front trunk where a petrol car’s engine would be.
But I don’t feel the Tesla Model Y rival is the best BYD can offer – especially as BYD sells more EVs than Elon Musk’s brand.
‘The Temu Range Rover’
Jaecoo 7 SHS
Price: From £35,165
The Jaecoo 7 SHS has proved a hit with families and made itself a name on social media, where it’s been dubbed ‘the Temu Range Rover’, as it looks like the British 4×4 maker’s mid-sized Velar.
They may look similar but there’s certainly one big difference between the two and that’s the price tag.
The Jaecoo 7 SHS starts at over £35,000, whereas the Velar costs from about £55,000.
When I reviewed this car, I wasn’t impressed with how it drove but I’m a motoring journalist who prizes that trait above others.
Many car buyers aren’t so fussed, however, and I concluded the review by saying people would probably still snap up the Jaecoo 7 for the overall package it offers.
I stand by my view that it’s one of the less appetising Chinese SUVs to drive. But, unsurprisingly, this Range Rover ‘dupe’, with a 700-mile combined plug-in hybrid range and lots of technology packed in, has sold like hotcakes.
…AND THE CAR I AVOIDED DRIVING
Skywell BE11
Price: £36,995
Is it fair to judge a car you haven’t driven?
It’s a bit like deciding you won’t buy a book because you don’t like the cover.
But I’ve been told the Skywell BE11 – a joint venture between Skyworth Electronics and Nanjing Golden Dragon Bus – has so few redeeming qualities it’s not even worth testing the £37,000 electric SUV.
Ouch.
