UK Auto Industry Chief Says Chinese Entrants Forcing Deep Discounts

BYD released its September 2026 production and sales report, with new energy vehicle production of 463,900 units and sales of 463,600 units for the month. Among these, pure electric models sold 273,100 units in September, plug-in hybrid models sold 183,600 units, and exports of new energy vehicles reached 180,700 units for the month. Cumulative sales for the year totaled 3,131,600 units, down 3.94% year-on-year.

Millennium Group Corporation (Asia) Public Company Limited, or MGC, has been tasked with allocating and managing vehicles for transportation and guest hospitality at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings 2026, to be held from October 12 to 18, 2026, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The company will use BMW vehicles for all services and plans to resell the cars as rentals after the mission concludes. Miss Jerdnaphang Thamchuanwiriya, Chief Financial and Accounting Officer of the group, disclosed that performance in the final stretch of this year will continue to grow strongly from the third quarter of 2026, with full-year net profit potentially exceeding the original target of 900 million baht. In its vehicle sales business, MGC is moving forward with deliveries of the XPENG L03 starting in October, after accumulating nearly 2,000 bookings within a month and a half of its launch. The company also plans to launch two more new models in the fourth quarter of 2026, namely the XPENG G9L and one additional SUV model, targeting combined bookings of more than 1,000 units for the new models and total sales of around 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles in the year-end period. Deliveries are expected to gradually begin from the fourth quarter of 2026 onward.

The United Kingdom electric vehicle market is forecast to grow 4.0% annually to reach US$176.7 million in 2026, according to a new Databook Q2 2026 Update from ResearchAndMarkets.com. After a 3.6% CAGR during 2021-2025, the market is projected to record a 3.8% CAGR from 2026 to 2030, rising from US$170.0 million in 2025 to approximately US$205.4 million by 2030. Growth is being shaped by the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, the Electric Car Grant, charging infrastructure development and domestic manufacturing strategy, with the government committed to ending sales of new internal combustion engine cars by 2030 and requiring all new cars and vans to be fully zero-emission by 2035. Nissan's Sunderland plant remains central to UK manufacturing, supported by a £450 million investment and the EV36Zero programme behind the next-generation LEAF, while BYD reported becoming the UK's best-selling EV brand in early 2026 and Chinese entrants including XPeng and Leapmotor expand through International Motors and Stellantis dealerships respectively. The report also flags the planned mileage-based Electric Vehicle Excise Duty in April 2028 as a factor expected to shift emphasis toward the total cost of EV ownership.