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Chinese cars

BYD, Jaecoo, Omoda, Leapmotor, Chery etc ... appear to be suddenly everywhere in adverts - are they OK and what's the downside of buying one ?

If I was half as smart as I think I am - I'd be twice as smart as I REALLY am.
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  • paul_c123
    paul_c123 Posts: 1,188
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    MG, Tesla.....
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 13,170
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    Lots of reviews on You Tube - generally very good. High spec ,quality and cost.

    Filling the gaps in markets abandoned by Ford etc -  no longer get Escort and Capri badly received. 

    Drawback - limited main dealersship.


    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • BYD, Jaecoo, Omoda, Leapmotor, Chery etc ... appear to be suddenly everywhere in adverts - are they OK and what's the downside of buying one ?
    Less experience in building cars, that being said BYD cars appear to be very well built, although some slightly odd design choices, the others I would not touch yet because they have not been around long enough to for me to properly assess. 
    paul_c123 said:
    MG, Tesla.....
    MG are fully Chinese, Tesla it depends, American company, some cars made in the US, some in Germany and some in China, most of the Tesla's sold in the UK are made in the Berlin factory, 
  • paul_c123 said:
    MG, Tesla.....
    You seem to be mistaking where something is made and where a company is domiciled? 

    By your logic BYD is from 7 countries with plans to add another two soon. 

    In reality these things are complex, Leapmotor in china is 20% owned by Stellantis but Leapmotor International is 51% owned by them. Stellantis also owns Fiat, Vauxhall, Maserati to name but a few. 


  • paul_c123
    paul_c123 Posts: 1,188
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    paul_c123 said:
    MG, Tesla.....
    You seem to be mistaking where something is made and where a company is domiciled? 

    By your logic BYD is from 7 countries with plans to add another two soon. 

    In reality these things are complex, Leapmotor in china is 20% owned by Stellantis but Leapmotor International is 51% owned by them. Stellantis also owns Fiat, Vauxhall, Maserati to name but a few. 


    I typed in 2 words, one of them isn't really a word but is initials. I don't see how you can infer that I'm differentiating where its made and where a company is domiciled from that.
  • prowla
    prowla Posts: 14,556
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    BYD and Genesis have outlets in the Westfield shopping centre (West London), if that's anywhere near you.
    They may do elsewhere too.
  • paul_c123
    paul_c123 Posts: 1,188
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    edited 19 September 2025 at 9:01AM
    While some right-hand drive Tesla Model Ys are now built in Berlin for the European market, including the UK, Model 3s sold in the UK have historically come from Shanghai, China.  (From Google).
  • prowla said:
    BYD and Genesis have outlets in the Westfield shopping centre (West London), if that's anywhere near you.
    They may do elsewhere too.
    Genesis is Hyundai so Korean not Chinese?

    BYD have lots of show rooms https://www.byd.com/uk/find-store 
    Most the others listed have decent coverage now too https://www.leapmotor.net/uk/dealer ; https://jaecoo.co.uk/find-a-dealer ; https://omodaauto.co.uk/findadealer/ etc
  • LightFlare
    LightFlare Posts: 1,983
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    Robin9 said:
    Lots of reviews on You Tube - generally very good. High spec ,quality and cost.

    Filling the gaps in markets abandoned by Ford etc -  no longer get Escort and Capri badly received. 

    Drawback - limited main dealersship.


    This - they don’t have a very long track record or service/repair infrastructure (for now)

    Personally, I will be staying away for about 5 years and see whose still around and looking at the logistics of maintenance 
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 25,430
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    There are some cheap Fiskers still available!
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec / Fuse gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 37 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Ecoflow Stream, Best kettle :-)
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