8:13 am, August 24, 2026
Some established car manufacturers could quit the UK within the next two years as the rapid rise of Chinese brands puts increasing pressure on traditional players, a leading dealer boss has warned.
Peter Smyth, director of family-run Swansway Motor Group, believes the changing shape of the new car market will force some manufacturers to make difficult decisions about whether it remains worthwhile competing in Britain.
Speaking on the Car Dealer Podcast, Smyth said he expects Chinese manufacturers to continue grabbing market share and believes some more established brands could ultimately choose to concentrate on countries where tougher tariffs give them greater protection from their new rivals.
He said: ‘We will have to get used to Chinese OEMs being in the marketplace. I believe that some of the traditional OEMs will exit the UK and go to a place where countries have decided to put stiffer tariffs on Chinese vehicles.
‘I’m not going to say which I think are going to go, but I think there’ll be some rationalisation of large brands such as Stellantis.
‘I think they will remain in the UK but they may not have all the brands that they currently represent.
‘I think that will happen over the next two years or so.’
Smyth is speaking from first-hand experience of the rapid change taking place on dealer forecourts. You can listen to the interview in full by clicking play below or watching the video at the top of this page.
Swansway, which has historically represented manufacturers including Volkswagen, Audi, Honda and Land Rover, has increasingly expanded its Chinese representation and now operates three BYD dealerships in Chester, Crewe and Stoke, as well as representing Omoda and Jaecoo.
He told the podcast that new Chinese car retail was currently ‘absolutely on fire’, with the brands becoming ‘the envy of the rest of the industry’.
Smyth believes one of the biggest reasons for their success is not simply the amount of technology or equipment being offered, but where the cars sit on monthly payments.
He said Chinese models are typically hitting a ‘sweet spot’ of between £300 and £400 a month, while many established brands which previously occupied that territory have moved closer to £500 or £600.
‘They’re very good value for money, they’re very well put together, the tech is exceptional,’ he said.
‘Most importantly, their monthly payment lies in that sweet spot between £300 and £400 a month.
‘Some of the more established brands that used to be between £300 and £400 a month are now between £500 and £600 a month. That to me has it all in a nutshell.’
The latest registration figures underline the speed at which the landscape is changing.
The Jaecoo 7 was the fourth most-registered new car in Britain in July, with 2,709 hitting the road, while the newer Jaecoo 5 was seventh with 2,481 registrations.
The Jaecoo 7 also sits third in the year-to-date rankings on 26,549 registrations, behind only the Ford Puma and Kia Sportage.
Smyth said even he had been taken aback by the speed with which British buyers have embraced unfamiliar names.
‘I haven’t been surprised, I’ve been staggered, as I think is the rest of the trade, at the speed and the way that the public have embraced new brands,’ he said.
‘I think it’s also caught the traditional OEMs a little unawares as well. I don’t think they thought it would happen as quickly as it did.’
He added: ‘Everybody calls it the Chinese invasion, don’t they? Well, I would say what we’ve seen so far, believe it or not, is what I’d describe as a beachhead.
‘I think the real invasion is coming.’
Rather than simply being driven by an endless stream of new manufacturers arriving in Britain, Smyth believes the next stage will see the Chinese brands which have already established themselves becoming more demanding about the businesses they appoint to represent them.
He said successful firms would begin looking for ‘better and fancier representation’, potentially displacing existing franchises from dealer sites.
Elsewhere in the podcast he compared the process to a cuckoo taking over another bird’s nest, saying he could see Chinese franchises eventually pushing some existing manufacturers out of dealer businesses.
Smyth believes Chery, BYD and Geely are among the Chinese groups most likely to establish a lasting presence in Britain, with their multiple brands giving them the potential to become major forces in the market.
He predicted Chinese manufacturers could eventually account for anywhere between a quarter and 40% of the UK market by 2030, although he admitted he hopes established manufacturers will fight back.
Doing that, however, will require ‘very, very tough decisions’, he warned.
One advantage enjoyed by the newcomers, according to Smyth, is their ability to react far more quickly to what dealers and customers tell them.
He recalled attending a meeting at BYD in China where factory representatives showed dealers potential colours and trims and directly asked which they believed would sell in their markets.
‘They do listen and they do act on it,’ he said.
‘The speed thing is going to be a huge challenge for the more traditional OEMs.’
By comparison, Smyth believes some established manufacturers have accumulated ‘layers and layers and layers of management’, along with costly structures surrounding dealer standards, showroom audits and certification.
He believes some of that will have to disappear if traditional manufacturers are to compete effectively with their faster-moving Chinese rivals.