China‘s share of the UK car market has soared 10-fold within two years, MailOnline can disclose.
Nearly 10.3 per cent of imported cars are now manufactured in Chinese factories – up from little north of 1 per cent in 2022, Government data suggests.
Only Germany now exports more to Britain than China.
Among these include thousands funnelled out by BYD, which is flooding forecourts with ultra-cheap electric motors amid the huge push to phase out petrol and diesel engines.
Fellow Chinese brands MG and Great Wall Motors have also seized on demand for eco-friendly cars, powered by Beijing‘s desire to dominate the multi-billion-pound market.
Booming sales from China have sparked fears that Britain could become reliant on a malicious state, with senior MPs raising concerns electric vehicles shipped in will be ‘weaponised’ to gather intelligence.
As well as Chinese companies like BYD dramatically scaling up production, factories across the nation are also churning out major Western brands.
Tesla‘s ‘Gigafactory’ in Shanghai can make in excess of 1million vehicles a year.
The Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC) owns British heritage brand MG and also works alongside major European manufacturers, including Volkswagen and Audi.
The MG Cyberster is the world’s first convertible electric car. It is built by the Shanghai Automobile Industrial Corporation and will be going on sale shortly with a list price of between £50,000 and £60,000 depending on options
The roadster also features exotic ‘scissors style’ doors, first found on the Lamborghini Countach designed by Gandini
Mercedes-Benz has a deal with the Geely Holding Group to manufacture electric cars under the Smart brand.
During the first eight months of 2024, Germany exported £11.6bn of cars to the UK, according to figures collected by the Office for National Statistics.
China ranked in second place, ahead of rivals in Spain, France, Belgium and South Korea.
Before Covid, the value of Chinese car imports into the UK was below £400m annually.
This year, ONS figures show Chinese imports between January and August were worth £2.7bn.
Separate data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows the extent of China’s aggressive electric vehicle strategy.
According to the SMMT, BYD sold 445 cars between January and September 2023 compared with 5,260 over the first nine months of 2024 – an increase of 1,082 per cent.
The company, best-known for their battery technology, only began making cars in 2003. It now boasts of ‘ranking first in the world’ in the electric vehicle market.
GWM Ora saw their sales increase from 668 to 1,076 over the same period.
Between January and June 2024, Tesla remained the top selling electric car manufacturer in the UK with a 13.8 per cent of the market, followed by BMW (11.3%), Audi (7%), Mercedes-Benz (6.5%) and then MG (6.2%).
Last year China overtook Japan to become the world’s biggest exporter of cars.
Part of its huge growth has involved buying legacy brands such as MG. The historic marque, founded by William Morris in 1924, was acquired by SAIC in 2007.
They acknowledge in their annual report that they will ‘take the 100th anniversary of the MG brand as an opportunity to launch new products’.
This will include plans to ‘accelerate the application of new technologies such as AI Foundation Models in vehicles’.
MG’s Cyberster, the world’s first electric convertible, is expected to sell for between £50,000 and £60,000 when it hits UK showrooms in the new year.
The surge comes amid fears Beijing could hijack the eco-friendly motors to spy on Britons.
Security experts have fears that highly advanced Chinese cars could be used to spy on Britain, gathering information as they drive around the country, passing real-time intelligence back to Beijing
Professor Jim Saker, president of the Institute of the Motor Industry, warned MPs in August 2023 ‘connected vehicles flooding the country could be the most effective Trojan Horse that the Chinese establishment has’.
The IMI has been working with the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) – part of MI5 – about the threat posed by state-of-the-art cars.
Professor Saker said hackers could shut down the engine of a ‘connected car’, one which has a constant internet connection to update software and provide location data, or unlock the vehicle remotely and make it easier to steal.
He said: ‘Hackers could interfere with the car’s operating features such as the horn, wipers, blinkers, or even headlights, leading to safety issues.’
Ex-MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove urged the Government earlier this year to consider banning Chinese vehicles fitted with advanced technology which could beam vital data back to China.
Sir Richard claimed the issue of Chinese cars could be the ‘next Huawei‘, following a decision to prevent the telecoms giant from supplying the infrastructure for Britain’s 5G mobile phone network over fears spies could intercept communications.
US President Joe Biden‘s administration has proposed banning ‘Chinese connected-car technology’ over security fears.
The White House is also concerned about subsidies received by Chinese car makers, which they claim undercut US manufacturers.
It infuriated Beijing by slapping Chinese EVs with a 100 per cent tariff.
MG chartered the Wisdom Ace car vessel to transport 4,694 electric vehicles from Shanghai to Bristol – the largest ever delivery of automobiles to the port in April 2024
EU officials have also expressed concern about the amount of subsidies offered to Chinese manufacturers by the Beijing government.
The European Commission has voted to impose duties on imports of Chinese EVs – despite the objections of Germany and Hungary.
The new charges could be introduced by the end of the month if a new agreement on trade cannot be agreed between Beijing and Brussels. The tariffs, if implemented, will not affect British consumers because of Brexit.
China called them ‘unfair’.
The charges will apply to all Chinese manufactured cars, even those from European or American brands such as Polestar, Volvo, VW, BMW and Tesla.
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