A brand as English as roast beef is in the vanguard of China’s powerful bid to grab a slice of the European electric car market.
The UK is the largest market in Europe for Chinese electric car brands and sales are accelerating.
China struggled to crack the European market
According to Schmidt Automotive Research into Europe’s 18 largest car markets, China sold as many electric cars in the first seven months of 2023, as it did in the whole of 2022.
For years, Chinese cars struggled to crack the European market because they were deemed low quality.
The new battery electric technology has levelled the playing field for Chinese cars as Europe looks to move away from petrol and diesel.
Tweed caps and sports jackets
The Chinese share of the European market was 0.1% in 2019. It rose to 2.8% in the first seven months of this year.
Of these sales, most are in the UK and led by a 100-year-old marque that conjures up images of rugby-playing English gentlemen in tweed caps and checked sports jackets.
English engineers founded the MG marque in the 1920s. British car makers manufactured it until MG Rover collapsed in 2005.
Now houses and Marks and Spencer
The old MG factory in Longbridge, Birmingham is now covered with houses and a Marks and Spencer store.
The Chinese manufacturing giant SAIC bought up the collapsed group and relaunched the MG in 2011.
Always be an MG
The MG range is competing well in the UK against the competition because of relatively low prices.
The MG4 EV is the second best-selling car in the UK. Proof that there will always be an MG.
