UK Car Industry Caught Between China Boom and EU Export Threat — SkimNews
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- The UK government faces EU pressure to impose tariffs on Chinese vehicles after Brussels officials warned Andy Burnham that the bloc would enact 'made in Europe' barriers on British exports otherwise — a threat to the EU market that absorbed 58% of UK car exports in H1 2026 versus roughly 4% for China.
- Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has so far resisted the calls, arguing any levies would 'probably be reciprocated' and cost UK manufacturers sales in China.
- Chinese brands BYD, Omoda and Jaecoo more than tripled their share of the UK new car market to 12% in the first eight months of 2026, helping power a 12% year-on-year rise in September registrations — the strongest monthly growth since 2017, with the Jaecoo 7 and BYD Sealion 7 among the top sellers.
- The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) branded the EU's 'made in Europe' rules an 'existential threat' to British car production, with CEO Mike Hawes warning that excluding British-built vehicles from their largest market 'would assure mutual damage.'
- Nissan Europe chair Massimiliano Messina said Europe 'cannot have a Trojan horse where the Chinese are going to flood the market through the UK,' while Chery deputy UK chief Victor Zhang rejected the claim, noting most of what Chery sells in Britain are 'super-hybrids' and that 'tariffs can come and go' but won't derail the brand's Sunderland investment.
- Former Vauxhall chair Tim Tozer called tariffs 'vital' to stop Britain's car sector 'atrophying,' branding Reynolds 'whistling in the wind' on the idea of exporting en masse to a 'fiercely nationalistic' Chinese market.
- After Brussels raised EV tariffs in 2024, imports of plug-in and battery hybrid cars from China rocketed — a pivot that underlined Beijing's ability to reroute export strategy around trade barriers.
Why it matters: The EU takes 58% of UK car exports while China takes just 4%, so the arithmetic of the 'difficult trade-off' leans heavily toward protecting EU access — but imposing Chinese tariffs could simultaneously scare off the very Chinese investment (Chery's Sunderland talks, BYD's rising share) that UK plants increasingly depend on to stay open.
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