10:20 am, October 9, 2026
Customers who would traditionally have bought used cars are being tempted into brand-new Jaecoo 7s, with one dealer saying the Chinese SUV’s aspirational appeal is helping attract an entirely different type of buyer.
Sam Luscombe, boss of Luscombe Leeds, says the combination of premium styling and affordable monthly payments is convincing customers who would never normally have considered a new car to make the switch.
The family-run business only joined the franchise in March but delivered 150 new Omoda-Jaecoo cars to customers in September, a figure Luscombe described as a drop in the ocean compared with the 10,813 Jaecoo 7s registered across the UK during the month.
Speaking to Car Dealer, he said: ‘These Jaecoo 7s especially, it is a premium product. It looks every bit a premium product and it’s not the premium price.
‘We’re pulling in a massively different [customer].’
Luscombe said the vehicles being taken in part-exchange offered a revealing insight into the changing customer base, with German-brand cars and Kia Sportages among those being traded against new Jaecoos.
‘We’re taking in a lot of German stuff, a lot of Kia Sportages,’ he said.
He added that customers looking to replace a Kia Sportage could be faced with monthly payments of around £500 for another one, making the Jaecoo an attractive alternative.
Luscombe Leeds, which also represents MG and Suzuki, has seen demand for Jaecoo exceed expectations since taking on the franchise in March.
Despite also being a Chinese brand with British heritage, Luscombe said MG continued to attract customers looking for value for money and reliability, while Jaecoo was appealing to a more aspirational buyer.
He also revealed that the dealership was experiencing more finance application declines on Jaecoo than MG, which is not so surprising for a car that’s often dubbed the ‘Temu Range Rover’.
The changing customer profile comes as aggressive new-car offers increasingly compete with the traditional three-year-old used car market.
Derren Martin, an independent automotive consultant working with Cazana, believes customers who normally purchase a three-year-old used vehicle using a deposit and monthly finance payments are particularly likely to switch.
He told Car Dealer: ‘My view is that the new car deals have got so attractive, particularly since the Chinese brands have arrived and compete with each other and legacy brands, that many consumers that used to buy three-year-old used cars are now moving into new car offers, particularly if they are purchasing via a deposit and monthly payments, rather than a cash buyer.’
Martin pointed to discounts of up to 30% on certain petrol and electric cars, lease deals below £200 a month on some SUVs and the arrival of more affordable models such as the Chery Tiggo 4.
He added: ‘When speaking to an established retailer with a number of brands, they pointed out that consumers may come into their facility or on their website for a used Ford or Vauxhall, for example, but walk out with a brand-new BYD, Chery, Omoda or MG.
‘Of course, the legacy brands then have to compete with this.
‘The big question is, if consumers stop buying three-year-old used cars in volume, what happens to residual values? Monthly payments on new cars are built off strong residual values, which rely on strong used car pricing.
‘Interesting times ahead, as brands fight for volume in an ever more competitive market. The new car market needs a strong used car ecosystem to survive in the UK, under its current model.’
Independent used car dealers are also seeing customers make the switch, with some selling their existing vehicles to dealers before buying brand-new Chinese cars instead.
Umesh Samani, chairman of the Independent Motor Dealers Association (IMDA), told Car Dealer he had experienced the trend personally and heard similar reports from members across the country.
He said: ‘I’ve personally had customers come in here who we’ve bought vehicles off and then the move has actually been to move on to the Chinese brands.
‘Some fantastic PCP deals out there and I think they’re just buying the market.
‘I said this a couple of years back actually, that the Chinese will be putting lots of money behind their vehicles to simply buy the market.’
Samani said the issue had also been raised by other IMDA members, with traditional used car finance offers struggling to compete with manufacturer-backed deals.
He added: ‘Quite a few of the IMDA members have said similar on the forums, in our groups, that they’ve felt very similar.
‘People coming in who would normally possibly buy a two- or three-year-old Nissan Qashqai, the payments on normal HP or PCP seem to be higher than the Chinese brands.’
The SMMT has also acknowledged the shift, following a 12% increase in new car registrations during September.
It said: ‘The overall growth is largely being driven by intense competition – significantly from new entrants – increased choice and attractive deals which are encouraging many into the new car market who might otherwise have bought used.’
However, Autotrader has challenged the suggestion that the growth in new car sales is coming at the expense of the used market.
Its latest forecasts predict a combined 10.17 million new and used car transactions in 2026, up 3.4% and the highest total since 2019.
New car registrations are expected to increase 9.5% to 2.21 million, while used transactions are forecast to rise 1.9% to 7.95 million, which would represent the highest annual used car volume since 2017.
While Autotrader acknowledges there will be some movement between nearly-new and brand-new cars as a result of competitive offers, it believes the figures point to an expanding overall market rather than new cars simply taking sales away from used dealers.
Marc Palmer, Autotrader’s head of strategy and insights, said: ‘What’s particularly encouraging is that growth isn’t confined to one part of the market. New car registrations are recovering strongly but used car transactions are also increasing from what is already a very high base.
‘That tells us the overall automotive market is growing, rather than new car demand simply taking sales away from the used market.
‘New car buyers are benefiting from intense competition, attractive offers and greater consumer choice, while the used market continues to demonstrate its resilience despite an uneven supply picture.
‘With cars continuing to sell quickly, car-buying intent remaining robust and wider consumer confidence improving, there are genuine reasons to be positive about the outlook for the remainder of 2026.’