Chinese Charge: latest moves from EV brands

Many Chinese car brands are launching in the UK for the first time in the wake of trailblazer Chinese-backed MG

By Guy Bird

MG, the British carmaker of small and affordable, fun-driving roadsters like the ’60s and ’70s MGB and 1990s MG F, is back. After its near collapse in the early 2000s and decades in the doldrums, it’s thriving again, partly based on making affordable – and crucially available – hybrid and full-electric vehicles where other brands have struggled with slower supply and higher prices.

In 2022 it sold nearly 60,000 cars in Europe and is predicted to double that figure in 2023. In the SMMT’s most recent (at the time of writing) UK May sales charts, MG stood 10th, with a market share of 4.34%. That’s in front of Mercedes (4.01%) and just behind Nissan (4.47%). Year to date, it’s already registered 32,017 vehicles in the UK and sits in a healthy 11th place.

These figures reflect a remarkable turnaround, masterminded by some key individuals – many ex-Hyundai – including commercial director Guy Pigounakis. “Everybody said it was a blip, but we unashamedly make good value and desirable cars, some of the best in the market,” he told Motor Trader at the recent London unveil of the full-electric Cyberster sportscar. “We also have a high-profile distribution network, which is still an extraordinarily powerful part of the buying process. We’re brand-neutral to some demographics, but positive to many and the Cyberster is the car lots of MG enthusiasts were waiting for.”

It’s certainly a car to get enthusiastic about, with dramatic supercar-style ‘scissor’ doors normally seen on Lamborghinis four times the price, an electric powertrain capable of 0-62mph in 5.0 seconds, and a predicted range of 300-plus miles. Although official prices haven’t been announced, a starting figure of under £45,000 has been mooted and the two-seater should go on sale in mid-2024. That timeline is set to give the formerly also-ran brand a genuine unique selling point as the world’s first ground-up, all-electric roadster to go into production (if we discount Tesla’s early 2000s, short-production run two-seater, which was heavily adapted from a Lotus Elise).

David Allison, MG’s head of product planning, admits the Cyberster is a new type of vehicle for recent MG dealers to handle. “We’ve built the brand with affordability and this is a higher price car,” he said, “but we [still] want to make the Cyberster as high-tech as possible with those electric doors and [multiple] dashboard screens.” And despite the Cyberster chiming with MG’s recent full-electric focus, Allison said future MG products will also include a full-hybrid (but not plug-in) MG3 in 2024 and believes the brand will still be offering a variety of powertrains right up until the UK Government’s ban on selling new internal combustion engine cars kicks in. As he added: “There’s been nothing official said, but in my view we’ll still be part of the ICE market until 2030.”

That’s good new for MG dealers in areas where EV charging infrastructure for customers is currently poor and full-electric vehicle demand low, but MG’s position as one of the UK market’s EV sales frontrunners is likely to continue with its critically acclaimed and stylish full-electric MG4 crossover set to become its best-seller in 2023. Allison said MG’s EV sales equalled 34% of its 2022 total and that the MG4 could clock up just under 30,000 sales this year. As said before, quite the turnaround.

Nio

In our last Chinese brand report we talked about Tesla-rivalling, battery-swap station innovator Nio arriving in the UK. The brand has already launched in Norway, Germany, Holland, Denmark and Sweden with a range of sophisticated full-electric vehicles including the ET7 and ET5 saloon and estate plus EL6 and EL7 SUVs. Its battery-swap stations are rolling out in Europe too with 16 in place and more planned by the end of 2023. It also has a factory in Hungary assembling the swap stations, which allow customers to insert a fully-charged battery to replace an empty one in five minutes, rather than wait around for a long recharge.

A bit like Polestar, Nio is choosing hub-style experience centres – called ‘Nio Houses’ – to attract customers with a brand-led approach and has five in Europe already, plus 45 service centres. Nio’s PR wouldn’t confirm a UK entry date yet, but expect it to be in 2024, rather than late 2023 as previously stated, because, in their words: “Nio has learnt from launching in other markets and is prepared to be patient. As a user-focussed enterprise, it wants to ensure everything is in place to give users the best possible experience. Nio hasn’t announced its sales model for the UK but in all other markets, it is via an app or from a Nio House or Nio Space. Outright purchase, subscription and lease plans are available in other markets.”

Zeekr

A Chinese EV brand you may not have heard of is Zeekr. Created from scratch by Volvo, Polestar and Lotus-owning Geely Group and masterminded by a former Bentley design director, Zeekr is being pitched as a premium EV brand to take on German rivals.

Just this month its opened its order books in Holland and Sweden for the 001 executive-sized five-door sporty estate (a similar size to the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo) and the Zeekr X compact crossover (just a little longer than a Volvo XC40 Recharge). Sales should start in Denmark, France, Germany and Norway in 2024 and Zeekr aims to cover the rest of Western Europe by 2026, perhaps aided by its servicing connections already established through other Geely Group brands.

HiPhi

The wild card to keep an eye on is HiPhi. Only established in 2017, the premium EV brand belongs to Chinese technology and mobility company Human Horizons.

Poaching veteran ex-BMW design talent, it has already made a few impressive production vehicles, including the 5.2-metre, 400-mile range HiPhi X large SUV, a slightly smaller 500-mile HiPhi Y crossover with dramatic gull-wing rear doors (which size-wise, sits between the Tesla Model Y and X SUVs), plus a five-metre-plus, sporty shooting brake HiPhi Z with rear-hinged rear-doors. Although primarily China market-focused, HiPhi is also planning to sell in central Europe in late 2023, with right-hand drive for UK also possible thereafter.

Guy Bird is a freelance motoring writer and regular contributor to Motor Trader