The rapid growth of Chinese brand new car sales in the UK is bringing issues in the insurance market where some models and brands are attracting high insurance premiums for drivers or are proving difficult to insure.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Chinese brands such as BYD and Jaecoo have grown rapidly in the UK with aggressively priced EV and hybrid models.
Research by carwow, an online marketplace for buying and selling cars, found that some insurance companies charged more or declined to offer insurance cover for selected Chinese brands and models.
Car insurance providers told carwow that insurance costs are inevitably led by factors such as parts availability, claims history and time to repair.
GlobalData analyst Jonathon Poskitt told Just Auto: “This is symptomatic of a market in transition. Things like insurance costs will inevitably take time to catch up with the fast-moving dynamics of the market over the past six months. It’s not just the rapid rise of Chinese makes, but also the growth of electrified models that come with new and advanced technologies. That inevitably impacts traditional insurance metrics such as projected cost of repair and associated risk assessments.”
However, Poskitt adds that the insurance market should stabilise when the models have been around for a while and aftermarket costs are more readily calculated and understood.
A spokesperson for Chery brands Omoda and Jaecoo in the UK told Just Auto: “Omoda and Jaecoo take the total cost of ownership of our vehicles seriously, and we have an expert team that is working on all fronts to reduce insurance costs with UK brokers and underwriters.”
