Chinese cars in Ireland: Here’s our rundown of each brand and what it sells

BYD. Status: Here and selling big

BYD is the 200lb gorilla of the Chinese car brands. It has risen, with frankly astonishing speed, to become one of the world’s biggest car brands, and has been vying with Tesla as the number-one maker of fully electric models.

Right now, depending on whose figures you believe, BYD hovers just outside the top 10 of global car makers, but that has to be taken in the context of the fact that BYD made its first car in 2005. Most of the car makers ahead of it in the charts have been at this since at least the 1920s.

In Ireland, BYD has actually broken into the top 10 list this year, muscling Renault and Dacia aside to take ninth place overall. In fact, BYD is only a few hundred car sales short of overhauling Ford in the Irish charts – something that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago. BYD clearly sees more potential in the Irish market, as it’s splitting from its independent importer Motor Distributors Limited and is taking its Irish operations in-house.

In Ireland, BYD’s bestseller is the big Seal-U plug-in hybrid, but the company is better known for fully electric models such as the Seal, the Sealion 7 and the Dolphin. Fears that BYD would undermine the efforts of European car makers by selling its small electric city car for as little as €10,000 were allayed when that car – called the Seagull in China, but named Dolphin Surf here – arrived with a price tag closer to €20,000 thanks to the need for expensive re-engineering to meet European safety standards.

Nonetheless, when European and Japanese car makers worry about Chinese competition, it’s BYD that’s at the forefront of their minds. Next up are high-end models under BYD’s Denza brand, including a plug-in Land Rover Defender rival, the Bao 5, and a sleek 1,100hp Z9 GT – and no, that horsepower is not a typo. The latter will be a competitor for the Porsche Panamera and Taycan.

There’s also the big seven-seat Ti7 SUV, the new Atto 8 seven-seat family crossover, which is a rival to Skoda’s new Peaq, and even a pickup truck, the Shark. At the more compact end, there’s the new the Shark hatchback.

The company even makes its own batteries, a rarity in the car world, and it has helped popularise the more rugged lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry. Next up? Ultra-fast charging at up to 1,500kW from BYD’s own-design ‘Flash’ fast chargers. In theory, these can top up your battery from flat to 97 per cent in as little as nine minutes. At that speed, charging stops will see their coffee sales plummet, with not enough time to order a flat white ...

Indeed, BYD has set itself the ambitious target of ‘cooling the planet by 1 degree Celsius’ thanks to its electric vehicle sales, zero-emissions public transport buses and vehicles, and investments in low-carbon manufacturing and battery recycling. It sounds grandiose, but who would bet against BYD now?

[ BYD aims to outsell Toyota by 2031 to become world’s biggest car makerOpens in new window ]

MG. Status: First Chinese brand on the scene

MG is the OG of Chinese brands in Europe. Resurrected by Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC) from the ashes of MG Rover – the last surviving remnants of the disastrous British Leyland empire – MG’s return to European and Irish markets wasn’t initially all that promising, with cheap-feeling cars such as the ZS and HS. While some MGs still feel cheap inside – step forward the current ZS hybrid and the MG 3 hatchback – as is so often the case with Chinese brands, it has taken big steps forward, and the likes of the MG S5 and S6 look and feel as smart inside as any European or Japanese competitor.

MG was the biggest-selling Chinese brand in Ireland until this year – possibly helped by the brand recognition factor of its classic badge. But BYD has since accelerated past it. Don’t feel too sorry though – MG’s Irish sales are up 77 per cent so far this year, and its line-up runs the gamut from the small and cheap MG 3 hybrid hatchback to the large and relatively luxurious HS plug-in hybrid SUV.

The S6 electric SUV is arguably its best all-round model – classy looks inside and out, and good range – but only the smaller MG 4 EV hatchback and the gorgeous Cyberster convertible demonstrate much of the old-school MG driving brio.

Hopefully the new MG 2 electric hatch – already seen in a very Mini-esque concept form – will have that trait in spades, as will the slick-looking MG Cyber large electric SUV, which looks more than a little like a bargain-priced Ferrari Purosangue. However, MG has a record of not bringing all its models to Ireland – we still don’t get the seven-seat S9 plug-in hybrid SUV, nor the more premium IM5 saloon and IM6 SUV.

Leapmotor. Status: Just arrived and expanding fast

Leapmotor only really launched in Ireland last year, and while it’s definitely a Chinese brand, it does have some European connections. Stellantis Group (Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Fiat, etc) owns a minority stake in Leapmotor in China and a majority stake in its global sales operation, which is why Irish sales are handled by Gowan Auto, home to all Stellantis brands.

Leapmotor first landed in Ireland with the tiny T03 electric city car (surprisingly good, considering it’s specifically designed to be cheap) and the chunky C10 SUV, which comes in fully electric or extended-range plug-in hybrid forms. That C10 has impressive quality inside, but it looks – and drives – rather like a Moomin (those cute cartoon hippos). In general, none of Leapmotor’s cars – the electric pair of B05 hatchback and B10 SUV – have much in the way of driver appeal, but they do tend to have good usable electric ranges on one charge, and a long six-year warranty.

Leapmotor seems to be working closely with Opel on its next generation of cars, so hopefully some of Opel’s sharper chassis engineering will rub off on the Chinese.

[ Leapmotor: China’s no-frills EV maker aiming to become the next BYDOpens in new window ]

Xpeng. Status: Out for premium brand scalps

Xpeng is perhaps one of the most interesting of all the Chinese brands, but you’d hardly know it from the single G6 model that it sells in Ireland. There’s nothing wrong – and quite a lot right – with the G6, but while it’s roomy, long-legged, and incredibly fast charging (up to 450kW on DC chargers), it’s also not especially exciting to drive, and looks like a very generic egg-shaped EV SUV on the outside. For a company that yearns to be taken seriously in the European premium car market, that’s not a good look.

More – much more – is coming, though. First up, with the soon-arriving X9, Xpeng will attempt to restart the MPV market with a car that boasts seats for seven, long EV range, and a classy cabin. It will also launch the L03 SUV, and while the current G6 may look a bit like a Tesla Model Y, it’s the sleek and rather more stylish L03 that’s aimed right at the Tesla’s heart, with a potential 600km range. There’s also the big G9L luxury SUV which wants to be an electric Range Rover for much less cash, and the one we’re really waiting for – the P7 saloon which looks as if a 1960s Buick Riviera never left production, but just evolved into something far more high-tech. That car has the potential to be a true game changer in how we perceive Chinese cars and their relationship to high-end European brands.

Oh, and Xpeng is also making its own ‘flying car’ air taxi with a six-wheeled ‘Aircraft Carrier’ truck launcher. Don’t expect to see those in Ireland, but it gives you a sense of the ambition.

Chery Group. Status: Arrives soon, with big expectations

Chery has been building up quite a head of steam, especially in the UK market where, with its three brands – Chery, Jaecoo, and Omoda – it has already broken into the top of the sales charts.

Indeed, at various points over the past couple of years, the Jaecoo 7 (known as the ‘Temu Range Rover’ or ‘the Evoque I ordered from Shein’) has been the bestselling car in the UK. Given its Range Rover-y looks and low price tag, it’s not hard to see why it’s been doing well. Clearly, Chery is doing something right.

Will it be as successful here? Well, selling a mid-size SUV with hybrid power and a low-figure sticker on the windscreen is a quick way to Irish buyers’ hearts too. But once you get up close to either a Jaecoo or an Omoda, you really start to see how awkward they look (the grilles and overhangs are totally out of proportion with the rest of the body), and while the cabins look and feel nice, there have been worrying rumblings from the UK when it comes to longer-term reliability. Big things are expected, then, but Irish buyers are notoriously hard to drag away from their favourite brands, so Chery Group might have a bigger fight on its hands here than in the UK.

Geely. Status: Technically, it’s already here

Geely has taken a different route to the rest of the Chinese car industry, bar SAIC and its purchase of MG. Geely has snapped up brands that are already familiar – Volvo and Lotus, for instance.

When it has created a new brand, Polestar, it’s been diligent in giving that a distinctly European, indeed Swedish, flavour (whatever US lawmakers might think …). Not only is Geely already in-country here with Volvo and Polestar (and to a much lesser extent with Lotus), it also owns the Farizon commercial vehicles brand.

Next up will be Geely’s own-brand cars, which will range from the oddly named Starray-iM plug-in hybrid SUV (a rival to the likes of the Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Qashqai) and its all-electric cousin, the E5, to the smaller Geely E2 hatchback, which will go up against the likes of the Renault 5 and the Volkswagen ID. Polo.

There is also its other premium player, Zeekr, which will enter the mix with its Polestar and Volvo brands.

Geely is also playing it smart with its European efforts by making sure to move production to this side of the world, and so it’s going to start making cars with Ford in Valencia, Spain.

Ford will rent Geely the factory space, and the two brands will share some platforms for new models, which could include the brand’s Toyota Land Cruiser rival, the Galaxy Cruiser 700.

Changan. Status: Up north, and under Mazdas

Changan is another Chinese company that’s sorta-kinda already here, because it provides the platforms and batteries around which Mazda builds the new 6e saloon and CX-6e SUV. And very impressive they are too.

Changan has already started selling its own-brand Deepal models in Northern Ireland – the S05 and S07 SUVs, both electric but with the S05 also offering a plug-in hybrid version – so they’re likely to work their way south of the border before too long. As Changans, though, they’re a bit faceless and bland in their styling, so you might be better off sticking with the Mazdas, to be honest. Actually, the Changan name comes from the fact that the company was once the Chongqing Changan Arsenal – not a football team, but literally an armaments maker. It was the first Chinese car brand, though, launching the Changjiang Type 46 in 1959.

The rest ...

China has an oversupply of car makers right now, and the somewhat Darwinian process of winnowing all of the start-ups and hopefuls down to a profitable few is well under way.

For instance, the Hi-Phi brand – which wanted to sell futuristic-looking saloons with gullwing doors – fell quickly by the wayside. Others are seriously worrying ‘western’ car makers, such as Xiaomi, which built its reputation making mobile phones but which now makes the incredibly high-performance SU7 saloon, which has been vying with Porsche for racetrack lap records. It’s also been embroiled in some worrying safety scandals in China, so it may take some time to get to Ireland, if ever.

Nio is more likely to arrive here soon, and its compact Firefly hatchback has been garnering rave reviews, but sadly its battery-swapping tech seems to have been superseded by faster DC charging.

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Li Auto is planning a European debut, but actual sales here could yet be affected by European tariffs on Chinese electric cars – something that has driven BYD, MG, Geely and Chery to set up factories within the EU and Turkey.

The Maxus brand is, of course, already operating in Ireland, but largely in the commercial vehicles sphere, as its MPV models – the Mifa 7 and Mifa 9 – haven’t garnered much attention here yet.

GAC, or Guangzho Automotive Group, is already in the UK market with its all-electric Aion brand, but there are no plans to come to Ireland yet, while Great Wall Motors was, of course, present here for a time with the cutesy Ora brand, but has retreated for the moment to lick its sales wounds. Don’t expect it to stay away forever.