Astonishing to think that a brand that only arrived in the UK in January 2025 produced the UK’s best selling car in March 2026.
www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/
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>> Brave buyers.
>>
Very few people with have bought them - they'll either be lease or PCP.
Their ubiquitousness is remarkable though - we often don't see new-to-the-market cars for ages - Renault 5 EV, for example is still a rare sight around hers, but Jaecoo 7's are absolutely everywhere.
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>> Brave buyers.
>>
Brave from which point of view?
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>> >> Brave buyers.
>> >>
>>
>> Brave from which point of view?
>>
My guess is ongoing support - it's a new brand. If it's successful, great, if not, dealers may close, parts may not be available for repairs etc.
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Been offered a Jaecoo 5 EV (61kWh) for £21,500 from a broker as a previous customer.
Chery (Inc Jaecoo & Omoda) haven't come here to fail.
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>> My guess is ongoing support - it's a new brand. If it's successful, great, if
>> not, dealers may close, parts may not be available for repairs etc.
Its not unusual or strange, Its a new brand just arrived, selling cars in large numbers very quickly. The support and logistics structure has not not kept up, in fact wasnt there to cover the sales spurt.
Chery, the parent company, is a major car manufacturer, and has the resources and intent to support the sales growth. But it will take a while, and meanwhile there will be repair and support issues in the short term.
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>> >> Brave buyers.
>> >>
>>
>> Brave from which point of view
It's all very well having a warranty but it's pretty much an unknown quantity and there are widespread reports of non-existent spares availability.
On the plus side of the ledger one could spend as much or more money on a much smaller new car from a legacy European brand and I suspect the popularity is driven by that.
I suppose it still makes a lot more sense than anything from JLR.
Maybe I'm just being snooty about them. The psychological and emotional factors in car choice are complicated aren't they.
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>> Maybe I'm just being snooty about them. The psychological and emotional factors in car choice
>> are complicated aren't they.
>>
My fear is what will this Chinese car invasion do to the European car industry? Apart from the loss of cherished legacy brands, there will also be significant unemployment in the manufacturers and the support industries, with a knock-on effect to the economy as a whole. We can certainly kiss goodbye to meaningful car manufacturing in the UK.
I mean remember when European made phones used to dominate? Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens, etc. Look at the 'choice' we have now. Chinese iPhone or Chinese Android. And now the competition is gone, are they any cheaper?
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>> at the 'choice' we have now. Chinese iPhone or Chinese Android. And now the competition
>> is gone, are they any cheaper?
In real terms, Yes.
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>> whole. We can certainly kiss goodbye to meaningful car manufacturing in the UK.
Err, that went many years before the Chinese export drive.
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>> My fear is what will this Chinese car invasion do to the European car industry?
>> Apart from the loss of cherished legacy brands, there will also be significant unemployment in
>> the manufacturers and the support industries, with a knock-on effect to the economy as a
>> whole. We can certainly kiss goodbye to meaningful car manufacturing in the UK.
Downfall started 40-50 years ago with the failure of BL in its various incarnations to produce decent quality, reliable competitive cars. Whether unions, management or government policy it was a giant screw up.
Salvation came as the UK joined the EU. Manufacturers saw the UK as the Euro area base for car manufacturing - Honda, Nissan etc. Along came Farage who removed any rationale for the UK as a European base.
Only when UK car manufacturing was on its last legs did the Chinese appear. They now produce cars at competitive prices to a high quality - what most buyers want. UK nd European brands are all at risk - many will end up as China built and rebadged.
Jobs - they will disappear. Folk will either go hungry, broke or find something else to make a crust. Precisely the same as happened with coal, shipbuilding, steel, switchboard operaters, etc etc etc.
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I bought 'the ole woman' a Chinese Haier washing machine last year (I'm good like that)
Damn thing came up with an E4 error code yesterday with a full load in it.
She had forgot to turn the water on.
:)
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>> I bought 'the ole woman' a Chinese Haier washing machine last year (I'm good like
>> that)
>>
>> Damn thing came up with an E4 error code yesterday with a full load in
>> it.
>>
>> She had forgot to turn the water on.
>> :)
You turn the water on and off when you use the washing machine? How quaint! Have you experienced a disastrous event before?
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>>You turn the water on and off when you use the washing machine? How quaint! Have you experienced a disastrous event before?
Well bathtub, at all of our other owses (and y'all know we've had a few) the tap wasn't easily accessible.
The washer is in the garage here and the tap is just above the machine, so, we've got into the habit of turning agua orf at the end of a cycle.
You've pointed out something obvious really, so mayhap we'll leave it turned on from now on.
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>> >>You turn the water on and off when you use the washing machine? How quaint!
>> You've pointed out something obvious really, so mayhap we'll leave it turned on from now
>> on.
>>
Don't. Pressurised hoses can and do burst and you can be sure it will be at the most inconvenient time. You will be out for the day and come home to find the house flooded, the carpet saturated and all the chipboard in your doors and kitchen cabinets swollen. Turn it off and be on the safe side. It happened to a friend of mine and was a major hassle.
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>>Don't. Pressurised hoses can and do burst and you can be sure it will be at the most inconvenient time
That happened to us when we lived in a flat in Bankside, sowf lunden many moons ago.
It wasn't our machine but the clowns (and he was a clown) upstairs.
He wasn't in, so I had to 'help' his door open, to turn the machine orf (caretaker was there overseeing :)
It's too easy to turn the water supply for the machine orf here, so will continue doing it, when she remembers :)
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>> Don't. Pressurised hoses can and do burst and you can be sure it will be
>> at the most inconvenient time.
Nearly every home in the UK thats had hot and cold taps changed in the last 10 years, is connected by flexi hoses.
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The last few machines we have installed came with inlet hoses with an aquastop device fitted.
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To be fair a lot of those legacy electronics brands were eagerly tripping over each other to outsource themselves to China. I recently purchased a Philips air fryer and an Alpine headunit thinking that I was helping to keep jobs in the EU..nope both Chinese made! I can't complain about the build quality of either product though. It is very good. I think that's the crux of it. Products made under the direction of Western brands will tend to be very good. I think when it's solely a Chinese company involved from start to finish that things become very hit or miss. Saying that I would still rather support European or UK jobs, but that's becoming much more of a challenge now!
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>> I think that's the crux of it. Products made under the direction of Western
>> brands will tend to be very good. I think when it's solely a Chinese company
>> involved from start to finish that things become very hit or miss. Saying that I
>> would still rather support European or UK jobs, but that's becoming much more of a
>> challenge now!
I too would rather support UK or European jobs.
Reality is that the Chinese can equal any developed Western economy in design and manufacture products of high quality. They have space programs, world class defence technologies, aerospace companies, machine tool and automation etc etc etc.
The quality of the product depends entirely upon what the customer is prepared to pay. IMHO we are no better than the Chinese, and in a few years will be playing playing catch-up in many areas.
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Philips appliances are nothing to do with Philips anymore. The name is just licensed to other companies now.
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Just having a look at the stats for the most popular car colours of 2025.
Grey remained top for the eighth year accounting for 27.6%. Silver was in 5th place. I'm not sure where silver ends and grey begins. I don't mind metallic greys, but for the life of me, I can't see the attraction of a colour where it looks like they forgot to put the top coat on. Reminds me of the Hillman Minxs my father had in the sixties. Wasn't a good colour then either.
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My new Volvo V60 is Vapour Grey and very attractive.
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I searched among the pre-reg discounts for a Yaris Hybrid last October, for herself.
Her one stipulation was "not monochrome". Practically every one was Black, White or Grey/Silver.
My stipulation was no low profile tyres, no black and or 'diamond cut' wheels. Manufacturers are going mad for black, or black and machined, wheels. I hate them.
We ended up with a Mazda badged one in metallic red with silver painted wheels.
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My Subaru XV is silver, my Suzuki Vitara was silver. I like silver and grey cars cos they don't show the dirt.
Living in North Cornwall y'all can wash yer jamjar, go out and it'll be full of mud when yoos get back.
I had nigh-on 50 cars over the years of all colours, only one was bought new - a white Citroen BX.
My fave car colours were aubergine and metallic orchid.
I once owned a brownish (metallic anthracite) Mitsubishi Sapporo :(
Saw a pink car on the A30 on Sunday - I could live with pink too, no problemo. Colours don't bother me at all at all - it's how they perform, service record, reliability etc. which dos it for me and ...
they must be one previous owner!
Last edited by: Dog on Tue 28 Apr 26 at 06:56
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Don't like silver cars at all or black for that matter, don't mind the "primer grey" vw and others offer, it's just different.
Current Swift is painted what they call cool yellow but to me it's more of a pistachio, maybe a bit girly for some but it's bright and cheerful.
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I quite like yellow cars but the ole woman doesn't (is this grounds for divorce?)
I nearly bought a yellow MGB once upon a time, citrine yellow I think it was, but ended up with BRG although it could have been Brooklands green.
Just remembered another brown car I had ... a Riley Kestrel 1300 :)
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>> I quite like yellow cars but the ole woman doesn't (is this grounds for divorce?)
>>
i once owned a yellow Fiat 128 3 door estate.
A friends mother had a yellow MGB. Both quite lovely.
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>>
>> A friends mother had a yellow MGB. Both quite lovely.
>>
...and what about the car?
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>> My Subaru XV is silver, my Suzuki Vitara was silver. I like silver and grey
>> cars cos they don't show the dirt.
>>
My 2019 Vitara is turquoise blue, a colour I specifically wanted wanted, that and SZ5 pre hybrid with the 1.4 manuel box combo.
Looks great under a bright blue Spanish sun.
Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 28 Apr 26 at 14:25
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>>Looks great under a bright blue Spanish sun.
I've seen it on the Suzuki forum - looks grrreat Toni.
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>> >>Looks great under a bright blue Spanish sun.
>>
>> I've seen it on the Suzuki forum - looks grrreat Toni.
>>
She’s called Sofia, not Toni :-)
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>> Just having a look at the stats for the most popular car colours of 2025. >>
How much does that mean - the makers determine the range of colours for each production year, and most buyers choose from what is on offer ? Tho as most cars are bought by fleets, how much say do they have ?
I don't think 'popular' describes it, it's just a fashion trend which end-consumers have little influence on.
Last edited by: Andrew-T on Tue 28 Apr 26 at 09:29
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>> Just having a look at the stats for the most popular car colours of 2025.
>>
>> Grey remained top for the eighth year accounting for 27.6%. Silver was in 5th place.
>> I'm not sure where silver ends and grey begins. I don't mind metallic greys, but
>> for the life of me, I can't see the attraction of a colour where it
>> looks like they forgot to put the top coat on. Reminds me of the Hillman
>> Minxs my father had in the sixties. Wasn't a good colour then either.
>>
>>
Now might be the time for me to admit that my car, a BMW, is finished in a colour that looks very much like primer that they couldn’t be bothered to paint. I only have myself to blame…I ordered it before any had been delivered to customers and so hadn’t seen any on the road. I wanted a panoramic roof, and ideally a light interior, and I wanted it pretty quickly. I didn’t want M Sport Pro whatever the blacked out version with illuminated grill is called. Almost all of the pipeline cars were top spec blacked out ones, but when the leasing co said they could get a one in standard M Sport trim with a panoramic roof, albeit with a black interior, in metallic grey for just after the launch date in October I said great, that’ll do. In my mind metallic grey would be a form of mid or dark grey with a definite sparkle. In turns out that Brooklyn grey, which is the primer colour you see an awful lot of three and four series in, is actually metallic. I’ve had it two and a half years now and while I’ve got used to it I wouldn’t say I liked it. But, plenty of people do for some reason!
Having said that, I test drove the Audi A6 Avant e-tron as a possible replacement a few weeks which, if the images on the configurator are to be believed, comes in a really nice mid/bright blue/turquoise metallic. Turns out it looks nothing like the configurator and is almost a flat teal, even though it’s actually metallic. The other blue available is a sort of denim blue that’s not very nice either. So, once you eliminate the two horrible blues, your choices are white, black, two shades of grey or a beige. No reds or decent blues available at all - and Audi used to do some really nice metallic blues. So hopefully the BMW i3 or the new electric C class that go on sale later this year will come in better colours. The ‘fire red’ metallic that other BMWs come in is nice, as is the dark purple that I’ve seen on some 2 series. MBs ‘Patagonia’ red is also very nice - both BMW and MBs metallic red are worse versions of Mazdas Soul (?) red though which I think is one of the best colours available in recent times.
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Apologies..double post.
Last edited by: Paul 1963 on Tue 28 Apr 26 at 07:18
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The same stats reported that green had entered the top 10 for the first time.
Reminded me of the time around 2005 when I was at Blackbushe looking for a car for the missus. There was a metallic green MK1 Punto in the line waiting to go through. HJ was standing beside it so I went over to say hello. Without prompting, he said he'd never buy a green car again having taken months to shift a previous one. I bought the car and we kept it for a good few years. Taught both my sons to drive in it (1st time passes for both of course:)).
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I bought a new Jimny a few years ago in Jungle Green. Nice and dark, and seems to change shade depending on the light.
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>> I bought a new Jimny a few years ago in Jungle Green. Nice and dark, and seems to change shade depending on the light
Jimny is still made in Japan and can be imported new - some companies do the legwork for around £25-35k depending upon spec. Including the 5-door version
youtu.be/9PuLQ6ghwsA?si=e_ltMlU7khswqTQ7
Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 28 Apr 26 at 07:58
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ChrisM reminds me of a time when I also was going to Blackbushe to buy a car for SWMBO.
"What sort of car do you want?"
"A blue one".
She got a blue Focus which lasted us many years. Bigger than she really wanted and a bit poverty spec but it lasted us many years.
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>> ChrisM reminds me of a time when I also was going to Blackbushe to buy
>> a car for SWMBO.
>>
>> "What sort of car do you want?"
>>
>> "A blue one".
>>
>> She got a blue Focus which lasted us many years. Bigger than she really wanted
>> and a bit poverty spec but it lasted us many years.
>>
Which reminds me of my days in a BL parts dept and a lady came in asking for some plugs and points and a condenser for a car.
"what car is it"
A blue one.. Ok. but other techie said No No NO those are for a red one when I reappeared, Never saw the lady again.
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Last three were black, white and grey.
All second hand. First two were at least to some degree distress purchases as previous cars were either faulty or accident damaged.
The Superb in grey ticked all our boxes except colour where I'd have preferred red or that rather nice mid blue.
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Whatever colour is included in the price.
Metallic red for the Ioniq5 and Ioniq6, white for the two MG ZS EVs and the Merc B250e, Met silver for the Kizashi (bless you) before it, and met red for the Swift Sport and Forester XT before that. A flat white Shogun between those two makes up the last 20 years of my cars.
VW Urano grey looks like ass, so no VW on my shopping list;-)
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I would be tempted to buy a Renault for that wonderful metallic red they do. Nothing else quite like it. My car is VW metallic Kings Red but the Renault colour is better.
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I think the positive thing about the 5 is that is proves manufacturers can still produce cars that look good (matter of opinion of course), in some fantastic unusual colours that get people talking. Unlike the looky likey Chinese boxes which all look so boringly similar and so often in black.
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It’s called Rouge Flamme apparently
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I dont' like any dark colours as I like to keep my cars shining and darks just show up swirl and water marks far too easily.
Re the Jaecoo, great value for money, majority of them will be on PCP or Lease and will get handed back.
I am a member of BYD Jaecoo Chery and Omoda FB groups and the two common denominators are that owners are really happy with them but spare parts is still a huge issue. If your car needs anything , whether it be as a result of an accident or some warranty work, on the whole you will be waiting a long time.
You need to remember who are buying these cars, often it is families who would previously have been a Corsa or Focus or whatever and suddenly for the same monthly payment they are getting a big SUV that has more toys than the average BMW, Audi etc. They are white goods (pardon the pun) but many are realising that these aren't cars that you just get in and go , you really need to know how the car works, the optimal settings, where on the screen you find the options you are looking for. And with over the air updates, something that worked yesterday might not work today.
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"...warranty work, on the whole you will be waiting a long time."
Do you get a courtesy car if the yours is off the road? If not, that sounds like a good way to lose customers, assuming they can afford to move to another brand at the end of the PCP.
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From what I have seen yes if its warranty work and car is at garage undriveable. If its accident, and its your fault and you don't have courtesy car on your insurance then you are in trouble. (and I'm not sure if there is a caveat as to how long you would get it for)
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Quite a few Jaecoo's round my way, I suspect that what attracts people to.them is the high "bang for your buck" ratio? Can't be there looks surely? Hideous looking imho.
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I wonder if the Motability scheme is responsible for the number of Jaecoos on the road?
I would be wary of ongoing support if it was my own cash, though if it were a lease then I wouldn't be too bothered.
AIUI, Fisker owners were really left in the lurch after the company went bust because the car insists on "calling home" regularly and there was no server to answer the request. Apparently the same was true for a brand of electric cycles that did the same when the company when bust.
Colour wise, my current car is grey, Mrs Zippy's is metallic red. I do like the metallic "soul red" that Mazda do, but my favourite for a long time was that deep metallic blue - "ink blue" I think - that Nissan did for a while.
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Saw a Jaecoo E5 today - absolutely spitting image, more than the others, of a Range Rover
jaecoo.co.uk/jaecoo-5-ev
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On the subject of colour. I saw a Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 the other day which was a restoration project and described as 'hearing aid brown' :/
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>> On the subject of colour. I saw a Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 the other day
>> which was a restoration project and described as 'hearing aid brown' :/
Isnt that known as rust?
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I had a lime green Hillman Avenger once, not unlike this (without the go faster stripe and fancy wheels)
www.carandclassic.com/car/C270483
It must have been Jubilee year 1977 as I can recall decorating it with the Union flag and other stuff... Or more likely SWMBO did it!!
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>> On the subject of colour. I saw a Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 the other day
>> which was a restoration project and described as 'hearing aid brown' :/
I had a Mk3 Escort that colour, I think it was Coral Beige.
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My only colour blocks are Black - Never looks clean and they always use a light undercoat wich shows chips and scratches, and white, which never looks clean. Pity about white there are some gorgeous shimmery pearlescent shades of white out there.
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I really am disappointed with this thread.
A load of petrol heads debating their favourite car colours.
On a different more girly forum the debate would centre aound lip gloss, eye liner, and hair tints.
What has happened to motoring that crankshafts, tyres, big bore exhausts, V8 vs straight 6, etc etc don't seem to feature.
FWIW - I draw the line at black, pink, anything flourescent. Otherwise don't really care!!
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"crankshafts, tyres, big bore exhausts, V8 vs straight 6, etc etc."
Apart from tyres, you may have to explain to a few on here what they are 'cos their motors don't hav em.
They may even claim the artificial whine stirs them more than a V8 at max throttle through a tunnel.
Last edited by: ChrisM on Wed 29 Apr 26 at 11:09
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“crankshafts, tyres, big bore exhausts, V8 vs straight 6, etc etc."”
“mostly going the way of starting handles, semaphore indicators and acetylene lamps I’m afraid.
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I've owned two V8s, both Rover P6s. Two straight 6s, both Beemers. Two V6s, Ford Capri and Toyota Supra.
I don't like 3 cylinder cars and could never see myself buying one.
My present car is a Subaru with a flat 4 engine. I've owned 3 scooby doos but wouldn't buy another one as the 2 litre injuns only do about 35MPG.
I can get over 40mpg out of it - if I drive like a mimser :)
Oh, and I've only ever owned one diseasel - a little LHD Citroen AX which I drove to Tenerife & back.
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After a month with a Citroen C1 a few years ago I decided never to buy a 3 cyl car. Now we have a Yaris Hybrid clone, which can be a bit droney.
Compromise is necessary when faced with navigating the minefield of tiny engines with forced induction, wet belts, DCT gearboxes, cylinder deactivation. I don't see any new cars now that I want to own for fun. That little Citroen was OK apart from the drone.
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>> After a month with a Citroen C1 a few years ago I decided never to
>> buy a 3 cyl car.
The 3cyl ecoboost in SWMBO's fiesta is actually very good, pokey, quiet(ish) smooth(ish) frugal. I never have any issue with driving it.
Ok its longevity is an issue for the unaware, but we are. Anyway, if it goes bang it will be replaced with a new leased Renault E5
Talking of which, I saw a Renault Alpine A290 t'other day, and it was "making progress" as they say. Looking it up on the net my eye was drawn to the forthcoming Renault 5 turbo 3e
(swoon)
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 29 Apr 26 at 17:56
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<< I've only ever owned one diseasel - a little LHD Citroen AX which I drove to Tenerife & back. >>
I think you must have used a ship somewhere ?
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>>I think you must have used a ship somewhere ?
Aye, aye. Dover ferry, Cadiz ferry. 3 years later drove back through Portugal to Santander, ferry to Plymouth.
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>> I really am disappointed with this thread.
>>
>> A load of petrol heads debating their favourite car colours.
>>
>> On a different more girly forum the debate would centre aound lip gloss, eye liner,
>> and hair tints.
>>
>>
>>
You should have been here when we had the nail varnish thread. Five people flounced, another half dozen were banned and the owners threatened to shut the forum down if it didn't stop.
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"You should have been here when we had the nail varnish thread"
Bringing back painful memories. All started with a simple queestion about pearlescent pink gel manicures
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<< I draw the line at black, pink, anything fluorescent. Otherwise don't really care!! >>
In a car park full of monochrome cars, a bright blue one is easy to find !
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>>
AIUI, Fisker owners were really left in the lurch after the company went bust because the car insists on "calling home" regularly and there was no server to answer the request
"By August, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware reached an agreement to postpone Chapter 7 Conversion while Fisker continues to liquidate their assets. Numerous objections to the conversion were brought up in court, where the Fisker Owners Association (FOA), a community and resource hub to "help Ocean owners" with maintaining their vehicles, had argued that Fisker should be required to ensure that their vehicles remain safe and operable.[59] The judge agreed to allow the FOA to have a voice in the sale of intellectual property, including the equipment needed to maintain the current cloud based software that the cars rely on for over-the-air updates.[15] In October, American Leasing agreed to spend another $2.5 million for tech support, allowing the vehicles' software to be updated. Fisker's intellectual property is being given to its creditors per the terms of the bankruptcy agreement"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Inc.
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‘Apart from tyres, you may have to explain to a few on here what they are 'cos their motors don't hav em.
They may even claim the artificial whine stirs them more than a V8 at max throttle through a tunnel.’
This is a bit like EV sceptics explaining that they can refuel in 5 minutes. We know - very few drivers have only driven EV’s. We know how petrol stations work.
But it’s not as binary as that. It’s possible to enjoy the sound/performance/smell of a V8 at full chat but drive something that runs on amps.
Me, I would quite happily not drive an internal combustion engined car on the road again. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to do one more rally in a quick car.
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Jaecoo J7 - Manatee
