Chinese language carmaker Changan is concentrating on a 5% market share to interrupt into the highest 10 by 2030 with plan to enroll 60 sellers by year-end, rising to 100 websites inside three years.
Whereas the UK has already seen a number of Chinese language manufacturers arrive in fast succession – from BYD and Xpeng to GWM and Leapmotor – Changan is charting a unique path.
Its European ambitions have been quietly maturing for practically 20 years, supported by world R&D and design centres, together with a key UK engineering base in Birmingham and a European design studio in Turin.
That tempo is now shifting quickly. The Deepal SO7, a mid-size, all-electric SUV priced below £40,000, would be the model’s UK debut mannequin, arriving this September. It’s the primary in a wave of EVs, plug-in hybrids and hybrids from Changan’s trio of manufacturers – Deepal, Changan, and the high-end Avatr.
Thomas, who has spent the previous 18 months establishing the UK enterprise, mentioned the agency has the infrastructure, product pipeline and funding to scale quick.
A elements warehouse, coaching centre, and strategic relationships with insurers, leasing companies and finance suppliers are already in place. Supplier appointments are imminent as the primary cargo of right-hand drive SO7s arrives this month.
The SO7 will launch with a single, fully-loaded trim stage, providing a 295-mile WLTP vary from an 80kWh battery and minimal configuration complexity.
A smaller SUV, the Deepal SO5, will observe later this 12 months, priced from the mid-£30,000s, with plug-in hybrid and electrical variants. A mid-size SUV is deliberate for 2026.
From 2026, automobiles may also put on the Changan badge, concentrating on the budget-conscious household SUV market with entry-level pricing from the low £20,000s.
Avatr will full the line-up with premium electrical saloons and SUVs, together with fashions co-developed with battery big CATL, which can also be a three way partnership accomplice.
Changan’s UK product vary will focus initially on B to D section SUVs, however Thomas hinted at potential growth into estates, hatchbacks, vans and pick-ups. All fashions will share a give attention to high quality, connectivity and user-centric design.
“We’ve realized from different manufacturers who launched earlier than us,” mentioned Thomas, who plans to have 60 sellers signed by year-end, rising to 100 websites inside three years. “We’re combining China’s pace and scale with European experience to ship high quality at tempo.”
That mix is obvious at Changan’s Birmingham R&D centre, the place engineers recalibrated the SO7’s suspension for UK roads in simply three months. “I’ve by no means seen that pace at a Western OEM,” mentioned Thomas.
Wanting forward, Changan is actively evaluating choices for a European manufacturing plant, with a dedication to native manufacturing and sourcing by 2030. This might assist its world gross sales goal of 1.2 million items exterior China by the tip of the last decade – double its present determine.
Within the UK, fleet gross sales will play a serious function, projected to account for 40-50% of volumes. Thomas expects BEV fashions to carry out strongly, significantly in wage sacrifice and leasing channels.
“We need to be a major quantity model by 2027 and prime 10 by 2030,” mentioned Thomas. “To get there, we have to hit 100,000 gross sales. We have now the back-up, the staff, the merchandise and the funding to do that.”
