China is a fascinating car market for many reasons, but mainly for its rise of EVs and what it calls new energy vehicles (NEVs), grouping electric and plug-in hybrid models, identified by their green numberplates. These are easier and cheaper to purchase here than combustion vehicles, and the result is that around half of new cars are now NEVs. When you consider that more than 30 million new cars are sold in China every year, it equates to a staggering number of EVs on the road.

China’s home automotive industry has advanced significantly in recent years. Whereas a decade ago, those with more wealth would have opted for a ‘western’ car brand, these days Chinese cars are so advanced and well-priced because of the economies of scale that there’s little reason to buy from outside China. Foreign car brands now take around 30 per cent of total sales, compared to 62 per cent in 2020. It’s a trend that’s hurting the established European luxury brands, who made hay when China couldn’t get enough of their cars. And that number is only expected to fall further.

Landing in Shanghai, my first time in China, I took a four-hour car journey to Wuhu, the base of Chinese automotive maker Chery.

After a week on the roads in and around the city, these were the things that blew my socks off.

There’s been a huge surge in demand for rugged-looking off-roaders in China in recent years, driven by a rise in its citizens enjoying more leisure time and exploring the country’s vast open spaces outside of its sprawling cities.

It means there are loads of Chinese-made cars on the road looking a lot like a Jeep Wrangler or Land Rover Defender. Chery is leaning heavily into this with its iCaur brand, while also making the funky Chery Fulwin X3L). Both would likely do well if they were sold in the UK.

There are plenty of Xiaomis, the hotted Chinese car brand on the planet

Xiaomi is essentially China’s Apple, best known for making smartphones and tech, and in 2021 it decided it was going to start making cars – the first of which, the SU7 saloon, was delivered in 2024.

Highly impressive from the off, Xiaomi has gone about chasing and beating Porsche at the ’Ring lap records and introduced its second model, the YU7 SUV, only in July 2025, which makes it all the more impressive seeing how many are already on China’s roads.

I’ll never complain about the UK’s lane discipline again after enduring the driving in China. Lane hogging is just the norm here, as nobody ever changes lanes unless they’re undertaking. Depending on the aggression of a taxi driver, the weaving in and out of traffic, the flashing of the headlights and the horn beeping, it’s like being in Mario Kart.

Adding fuel to this fire are insane lasers that fire strobe lights from some of the motorway gantries and speed camera-like flashing lights. The official reasoning is that they help to keep drowsy drivers awake on China’s tediously long motorway journeys, but they seem like more of a distraction to me.

Will Nio actually come to the UK? The firm has toyed with the idea for several years but has yet to commit to a date. It’s a shame given it’s one of the most innovative Chinese brands, not least for its battery swap stations that enable you to have a fully charged EV battery in the time it would take to put a tank of diesel in.

You can already buy a Nio in other parts of Europe, but they’re rarely spotted, which makes seeing so many of them in China all the more interesting. The ET5 Touring is possibly Nio’s most interesting car, not least because estate cars aren’t very common here. My local tour guide says a Nio estate is what the cool parents drive here.

Considering the recent issue surrounding US-China trade wars, you’d think that the last thing someone would want to drive in this part of the world would be something with an American badge. But you’d be wrong, as there’s a surprising amount of representation from US brands here, particularly from Cadillac and Buick.

But the vast majority of ‘American’ cars here, even before the trade war, are Chinese market-specific and produced in the country, though, including this cool Cadillac Lyriq.

Given we’re in the city where Chery is headquartered, there’s unsurprisingly a big representation of its own-brand models, including Luxeed. Full disclosure, I’d never even heard of the firm before, but it’s doing well in China with its S7 saloon (pictured) and R7 crossover.

Luxeed is all the more interesting, though, because it’s a joint venture between Chery and Huawei, the latter providing its technology and automated driving solutions. It’s a brand that could have potential in Europe but is restricted because of Huawei’s restrictions in the region surrounding its 5G network, including in the UK.

While Europeans keep banging on about the imminent arrival of self-driving cars, the reality is that it’s already a thing in China. It’s led the way, with plenty of new cars already equipped with hands-off capability.

You see plenty driving autonomously too, distinguished by their turquoise lights on the front, rear and side. Given the standard of driving, you can’t help but feel it would be a lot better if it was all automated here…

Badge-engineering is, of course, not just a phenomenon in China, but there are some particularly brilliant examples here, not least from the Volkswagen Group. ‘That SUV looks a lot like a Seat Ateca, ’ I thought to myself.

Turns out that’s exactly what it is, only in China the Ateca exists under Volkswagen’s standalone Jetta brand, created in 2019 following the success of the VW Jetta here. Volkswagen also markets the Cupra Tavascan as the VW ID.Unyx here as Cupra doesn’t exist in China. A strange world.

The BMW i3 is best known as the funky electric hatchback sold throughout most of the 2010s, and though BMW is bringing the i3 back in 2026 as a proper electric 3-series, a car doing just that has existed for the Chinese market since 2022.

Its styling is an odd mix of a regular 3 Series saloon mixed with the rear bumper of an i4, and it’s marketed as the i3 eDrive35L.

One somewhat refreshing element of China’s car market is that, while there is a growing demand for SUVs, saloons are still hugely popular here.

Though most Chinese car makers sell their own four-door cars, it’s still an area where Western manufacturers – and especially German brands – can take advantage of. But it’s the country’s obsession with long wheelbase cars that will never not fascinate me – even smaller saloons such as the Audi A3 are market-specific, ‘L’ versions offering more length and rear-seat space. Both factors are still considered a status symbol in China.