The Chinese aren’t coming; they’re already here. MG, BYD, Xpeng, and Polestar – all wholly or substantially Chinese-owned – are already well-established in the Irish car market.
Sales of such brands are pretty decent, really. BYD is, in 2025, doing the best and is nearing a top-10 breakthrough. MG is also performing well and has the benefit of some legacy brand recognition. Xpeng is still at the building-up stage, while Polestar really ought to be doing better, but then a brand with one dealer outlet is perhaps fighting with a hand tied behind its back.
All have faced the same basic problem, though, and that’s recognition. Chinese brands are the current bogeyman for the European car industry, just as in the past, so too were the Korean brands and, before them, the Japanese brands. China’s astonishing industrial power and labour cost advantages certainly give such brands a leg up.
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