New manufacturers have moved in since I last attended in 2024.
It is a pivotal moment as many of the manufacturers who attended the event were from China and who can blame them for taking advantage of the precarious situation in Europe? In the UK, Brexit, tariffs, high fuel prices and production costs together with 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans proposed to be sold in the UK will be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100% by 2035. Brexit aside, little rare earth supplies have also placed Europe at a severe disadvantage.
In alphabetical order, Chinese attendees were: Aion, BYD, Farizon (a subsidiary like Volvo of Geely), Chery (includes Jaecoo and Omoda), Leapmotor, MG and Volvo – the latter two have been Chinese-owned for years.
At Millbrook, all is mostly quiet now as Hybrids and Electric Vehicles dominate except for a raucous Nissan Micra with a 3.5 petrol engine from a 350Z shoehorned into the rear and an aggressive-looking Porsche 911 – both offering passenger ‘experiences’.
Farizon vans appear credible but I questioned the strength of exposed rear door hinges when van theft is so rife. Omoda and Jaecoo are good cars with the Jaecoo 7 becoming the UK’s bestselling car in March this year. They are cheaper than similar European products, have similar gearing setups on the right-hand instrument stalks but the driving experience is forgetful which I could say about most other Electric Vehicles and Hybrids as well. Interestingly, insurance tends to be higher for Chinese brands as insurers continue to collate repair costs based on models sold within the UK. Noticeably, I found it difficult to distinguish in Hybrids when the engine was running or not especially in the Nissan Qashqai and was impressed by its Google Earth images for Satellite Navigation.
The European Commission has enacted the Industrial Accelerator Act, a set of new measures to increase demand for low-carbon, European-made technologies and products to improve industrial output as well as to protect it. It remains to be seen what protectionism, the UK can be afforded as we are of course, outside the European Union. One way forward is through alliances with Stellantis who have partnered with Leapmotor for exclusive rights for the sale and manufacturing of Leapmotor products outside Greater China.
Inexorably, I found myself being drawn to the old stuff – VW brought their own Mark 1 Golf GTI to celebrate fifty years of the model which I did three hill route circuits on, the first two to get used to the stiffer pedal feel. A very low mileage Nissan Micra was carefully driven around the city circuit and reminded me of a 1985 model that my sister had as her first car. Contrarily, I have a soft spot for the Fiat Panda – the most recent model is larger and better built.
I even drove a Higer electric bus for the first time and was told by the instructors that I scored eleven out of ten and guess what, that bus was Chinese-built as well !
Words and photos are copyright of Sotiris Vassiliou
June 2026
