See all Motoring AdviceOver the past few decades, the car industry has been stable in a lot of ways. Of course, Covid-19 and the financial crisis wreaked their own pockets of havoc, but the landscape remained largely unchanged, with the same cohort of car makers providing new cars to much the same cohort of customers. Then, about 10 years ago, Tesla stepped in and changed everything, proving that new names can make a splash. MG rose from the ashes, too, and now there’s a bewildering array of new names vying for customers’ affections. But which should you be swerving, and which should you take note of? We’ve run down some of the big new players – most of whom come from China – that have either just arrived in Europe or will do very shortly.
Perhaps the most established brand we’ll mention here – at least in the eyes of Irish car buyers – is BYD. The company, whose name is infamously an acronym of Build Your Dreams, brought the Atto 3 electric compact SUV to market here just last year, and has already followed it up with the Dolphin and Seal models. Although it’s aiming to tackle the mainstream players, value for money is still a key part of the brand’s appeal, and while some may lament the comparative lack of brand kudos, the technological capability is still there. After all, this is the company that makes batteries for Tesla, so it has some idea what it’s doing.
That’s been shown ably by the solid Atto 3, the impressive Seal and the adequate Dolphin, all of which are pretty good showings for a brand that has only been in business since 2003. If it keeps improving at this rate, we could be looking at one of Ireland’s biggest car brands in the not-too-distant future.
Omoda
An offshoot of the Chinese car exporting giant Chery, Omoda is making its first steps in Europe. Having just launched in the UK, it’s planning to come to Ireland in the next few years, complete with a range of petrol, hybrid and electric vehicles. The company sees itself as semi-premium, but it’s still charging comparatively little for its cars, which include the Hyundai Tucson lookalike ‘5’ SUV. Like so many Chinese brands, it’s far from the most upmarket product, but Omoda learns quickly and can manufacture even more rapidly, allowing it to adapt at breakneck speed. The cars may not be there yet, but they’ll be much more competitive in the next few years.
Nio
A brand some might be familiar with already, Nio has made its name in Europe through its Formula E campaigns, which saw the company win the championship in the 2014-15 season. But it’s coming to Europe as a road car maker, offering a broad church of premium yet affordable electric SUVs and hatchbacks. Sense a theme, here? Nio’s headline act is the EL6 SUV, which is a mid-size rival for the Audi Q6 e-tron and BMW iX3, and it’s set to give those cars a run for their money. Cool technology, including an assistant with a rotating ‘head’ on the dashboard, and clean design cues means it’s going to be competitive, while ample range will also help.
But Nio’s USP is the promise of battery swap technology, where the battery can be unplugged and dropped out of the car before being replaced with a full one. The entire process will take just a few minutes, and if you think this is sci-fi stuff, think again. Nio already has hundreds of these swap stations around the world.
Denza
Just 14 years old, Denza is not exactly a household name, but it’s part-owned by the aforementioned BYD and even Mercedes-Benz, which gives it some credibility. Like so many of its rivals, its range seems to be growing by the day, with the D9 MPV, N7 SUV and N8 SUV all launched in the past two years. In keeping with the times, much of the brand’s range will be electric, but hybrid technology also plays a starring role, and the brand is set to grow noticeably under BYD and Mercedes-Benz’s stewardship. Whether it will be able to take on the likes of Lexus, Tesla and Audi remains to be seen, but it certainly has the right backing.
Jaecoo
Omoda’s even more premium-positioned but barely more expensive sibling brand, Jaecoo is a kind of lifestyle marque that currently has just one car in Europe: the J7. While it may look like a Jeep Patriot that’s been in an accident, it’s full of clever Android-style tech and it too promises hybrid powertrains to keep emissions (and, in Ireland, prices) to a minimum. Whether it will arrive here any time soon remains to be seen, but both Jaecoo and Omoda have expressed a desire to export cars here, and we could see them arrive before the end of the decade. By that time, the J7 will probably be old hat, but we’ve had a look around one, and it offers plenty of practical features, albeit in a weirdly off-road centric package, considering Jaecoo’s premium aspirations.
Yangwang
The name most likely to make schoolchildren laugh, it may be, but YangWang means business. Just look at the massive U8 SUV and you’ll know what we mean. Here’s a boxy 4x4 with an ostentatious grille and massive wheel arches, but it can float and even power itself (sort of) on water. Yes, this car can swim, and it can also turn more or less in its own length using clever motor tech. Of course, there are caveats with all these things – anyone using this as a boat will need to get it checked out by a professional afterwards – but this is the capability the likes of Jeep and Land Rover can only dream of. And it comes from BYD’s luxury brand, Yangwang. We’re expecting it to arrive in Ireland very soon, thanks to BYD’s existing Irish network, and it could make things interesting in the premium-sector boardrooms.