Chinese cars, suddenly seeing quite a few...
Discussion
Obviously MG's, have been around for a while, dont tend to notice them much, but they are obviously Chinese. Keep seeing old blokes (of which I am one) dismissing them as "Junk" but some obviously dont think so. Forgetting that their dads and grandads said the same thing about "Jap Crap" 50 years ago, and look how that went.
I went to the Crewe BYD dealership to pick up a car for my mother in law, she bought a BMW off another outfit that have an office in the same building. I had a look round an Atto, I sat down pretty quickly, it was remarkably unremarkable, no dreams were built but it didnt seem that much different from the VW's I had stuck my nose in at Stafford VW a few weeks back when collecting another car for a family member.
The showroom was pretty busy, Saturday morning and there were about 8 groups of potential customers.
Had a lift in an Ora Cat the other day, seemed alright to be fair.
You can now buy an Xpeng G6, there is also GAK, and Leapmotor, with NIO, Omoda, HiPhi and Zeekr gearing up for UK sales.
For every dismissive "Chinese Junk" person, there seem to be ten others who arent bothered where it came from as long as its cheap, looks alright and does the job. I think the days of laughing at comedy X5 knockoffs have gone, they are, with each model iteration getting closer to, and maybe exceeding in some areas, the "legacy brands". I think anyone who just dismisses them is naive.
How do you see it going, are you going to buy one ?
I went to the Crewe BYD dealership to pick up a car for my mother in law, she bought a BMW off another outfit that have an office in the same building. I had a look round an Atto, I sat down pretty quickly, it was remarkably unremarkable, no dreams were built but it didnt seem that much different from the VW's I had stuck my nose in at Stafford VW a few weeks back when collecting another car for a family member.
The showroom was pretty busy, Saturday morning and there were about 8 groups of potential customers.
Had a lift in an Ora Cat the other day, seemed alright to be fair.
You can now buy an Xpeng G6, there is also GAK, and Leapmotor, with NIO, Omoda, HiPhi and Zeekr gearing up for UK sales.
For every dismissive "Chinese Junk" person, there seem to be ten others who arent bothered where it came from as long as its cheap, looks alright and does the job. I think the days of laughing at comedy X5 knockoffs have gone, they are, with each model iteration getting closer to, and maybe exceeding in some areas, the "legacy brands". I think anyone who just dismisses them is naive.
How do you see it going, are you going to buy one ?
I’d have no issue buying an MG if i had to, that MG4’s appeal to me, and mainly because the brand is known and was brought up on old Rovers and MG’s. Even if there’s nothing in common with the old days of MG I just like the brand. The others I’m not sure, probably not. Although the Funky Cat GT does look decent IMO.
Yeah, there's quite a few about now. In general they seem to look pretty decent, but must have dreadful names that don't sound great outside of China. Think they need to get someone in who isn't Chinese to name stuff for foreign markets. 
There's loads more to come though - when I was in the UAE recently there was one that was a fairly blatant copy of the new LR Defender, but because of this it looked quite good. They were everywhere too... presumably 1/2 the price of the real deal.
There's loads more to come though - when I was in the UAE recently there was one that was a fairly blatant copy of the new LR Defender, but because of this it looked quite good. They were everywhere too... presumably 1/2 the price of the real deal.
I've driven a couple of BYD demos now and whilst they're not going to set the world on fire, they seem pretty good quality and ok to drive. No different from the 'regular' manufacturers tbh.
The new BYD range of Denza cars seems interesting? 925bhp on the leccy one and they seem to think they're taking the fight to Porsche, BMW etc.
The new BYD range of Denza cars seems interesting? 925bhp on the leccy one and they seem to think they're taking the fight to Porsche, BMW etc.
The old Ford dealership near me that closed a couple of years ago has just reopened as a BYD dealer. The thing that puts me off is how durable these cars are long term and what parts availability will be like.
I have seen videos on YouTube of 2 year old MGs that are already starting to rust underneath around the seems. It might be cheaper to buy, but that is not much good if they depreciate so hard that they are essentially worthless after a few years.
I did notice a lot of Chinese cars in Australia when I was there over Christmas, including a few brands I had never heard of before.
Give it five years and I think they will be a serious rival to any European car.
I have seen videos on YouTube of 2 year old MGs that are already starting to rust underneath around the seems. It might be cheaper to buy, but that is not much good if they depreciate so hard that they are essentially worthless after a few years.
I did notice a lot of Chinese cars in Australia when I was there over Christmas, including a few brands I had never heard of before.
Give it five years and I think they will be a serious rival to any European car.
Dingu said:
Terminator X said:
Imho still mad to buy Chinese if you don't live in China. Before the pedants leap in, a few Chinese components in a phone is NOT the same as a £60-100k car fully designed and built there.
TX.
What issue are you foreseeing? TX.
e.g Ora Funky Cat has been out 3 years almost, sold in fair numbers, not a single brake pad set for sale on eBay. I know this is just an example of 1 part, but the fact that a simple consumable hasn't trickled on to there yet would make me wonder about sourcing other, larger, more important things.
J4CKO said:
Obviously MG's, have been around for a while, dont tend to notice them much, but they are obviously Chinese. Keep seeing old blokes (of which I am one) dismissing them as "Junk" but some obviously dont think so. Forgetting that their dads and grandads said the same thing about "Jap Crap" 50 years ago, and look how that went.
I went to the Crewe BYD dealership to pick up a car for my mother in law, she bought a BMW off another outfit that have an office in the same building. I had a look round an Atto, I sat down pretty quickly, it was remarkably unremarkable, no dreams were built but it didnt seem that much different from the VW's I had stuck my nose in at Stafford VW a few weeks back when collecting another car for a family member.
The showroom was pretty busy, Saturday morning and there were about 8 groups of potential customers.
Had a lift in an Ora Cat the other day, seemed alright to be fair.
You can now buy an Xpeng G6, there is also GAK, and Leapmotor, with NIO, Omoda, HiPhi and Zeekr gearing up for UK sales.
For every dismissive "Chinese Junk" person, there seem to be ten others who arent bothered where it came from as long as its cheap, looks alright and does the job. I think the days of laughing at comedy X5 knockoffs have gone, they are, with each model iteration getting closer to, and maybe exceeding in some areas, the "legacy brands". I think anyone who just dismisses them is naive.
How do you see it going, are you going to buy one ?
As soon as I saw this thread I knew it would hook in the usual suspects I went to the Crewe BYD dealership to pick up a car for my mother in law, she bought a BMW off another outfit that have an office in the same building. I had a look round an Atto, I sat down pretty quickly, it was remarkably unremarkable, no dreams were built but it didnt seem that much different from the VW's I had stuck my nose in at Stafford VW a few weeks back when collecting another car for a family member.
The showroom was pretty busy, Saturday morning and there were about 8 groups of potential customers.
Had a lift in an Ora Cat the other day, seemed alright to be fair.
You can now buy an Xpeng G6, there is also GAK, and Leapmotor, with NIO, Omoda, HiPhi and Zeekr gearing up for UK sales.
For every dismissive "Chinese Junk" person, there seem to be ten others who arent bothered where it came from as long as its cheap, looks alright and does the job. I think the days of laughing at comedy X5 knockoffs have gone, they are, with each model iteration getting closer to, and maybe exceeding in some areas, the "legacy brands". I think anyone who just dismisses them is naive.
How do you see it going, are you going to buy one ?
Wasn't dissapointed to see TX straight in on the first page
andy43 said:
I assume the BYD showroom has all the demo cars lined up against a wall so no one spots the BUILD YOUR DREAMS chrome lettering stuck on the back.
They look quite good from a distance but whoever named one the Seal needs clubbing.
The end (of European car production) is nigh…
Saw a BYD saloon thing. Haven't what model it was, but my immediate reaction was that it looked good. They look quite good from a distance but whoever named one the Seal needs clubbing.
The end (of European car production) is nigh…
My concern with these cars would be the warranty support, parts availability and long term maintenance.
Compare the Chinese models with the absolute dredge that VW, Audi, and Mercedes are churning out these days, and I think the OP is right about European manufacturers being dust. Ignoring production economics for a moment, they just can't react quickly enough. Look at how long it is taking VW just to roll back their capacitive buttons debacle... Now trying doing that to improve the design of the whole vehicle...
andy43 said:
I assume the BYD showroom has all the demo cars lined up against a wall so no one spots the BUILD YOUR DREAMS chrome lettering stuck on the back.
They look quite good from a distance but whoever named one the Seal needs clubbing.
The end (of European car production) is nigh…
Old news...They look quite good from a distance but whoever named one the Seal needs clubbing.
The end (of European car production) is nigh…
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/byd/360828/byd-drop-...
MattsCar said:
Not answering for the above. But, I can see parts being an issue outside of the manufacturer network.
e.g Ora Funky Cat has been out 3 years almost, sold in fair numbers, not a single brake pad set for sale on eBay. I know this is just an example of 1 part, but the fact that a simple consumable hasn't trickled on to there yet would make me wonder about sourcing other, larger, more important things.
So they're probably all still in warranty, how many have escaped from the dealer network, and are being DIY serviced?e.g Ora Funky Cat has been out 3 years almost, sold in fair numbers, not a single brake pad set for sale on eBay. I know this is just an example of 1 part, but the fact that a simple consumable hasn't trickled on to there yet would make me wonder about sourcing other, larger, more important things.
Dingu said:
Terminator X said:
Imho still mad to buy Chinese if you don't live in China. Before the pedants leap in, a few Chinese components in a phone is NOT the same as a £60-100k car fully designed and built there.
TX.
What issue are you foreseeing? TX.
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