Omoda's UK new car deliveries to start in September

Dealerships representing Omoda, the latest Chinese carmaker to enter the UK, have opened order books for the petrol Omoda 5 SUV and the full electric C5, with first deliveries expected in September.

Omoda has recruited a network of 64 franchised dealers which are ready to start selling and servicing the car. It is targeting 100 by the end of the year and 150 by the end of 2025.

Speaking at Company Car In Action, national fleet sales manager Chris Clayton told Fleet News and AM group editor Stephen Briers he was also working on agreements with leasing companies and Motability ready for the summertime start.

Clayton said: “We have gone softly with dealer standards this year to let everyone find their feet.

"All cars will go through our dealers this year, but we may look at direct sales next year as well as introducing dealer bonuses to push volumes.”

PR manager Rob Durrant added: “We put all the infrastructure in place before the cars. We have a logistics partnership with DHL, and we have a parts warehouse in Rugby with a 24-hour delivery policy.

"We’ve been working with Thatcham on body repair standards for more than a year to make sure bodyshops are trained and we will develop future models with Thatcham.”

Omoda's strategy is to have "competitive discounts for fleets" but not be cheap, to make a mark and give China confidence that there is an appetite for these cars in the UK 

A strong order bank will help to convince Chery, Omoda's parent group, to bring more models to market, including the Jaecoo J7 premium mid-size SUV, which is expected to be priced around £35,000.

In 2025 Omoda and Jaecoo will expand for a range of three or four cars, with an expectation to achieve 30,000 registrations, split fairly equally between retail and fleet.

Cars slated for release include the Jaecoo J5 compact SUV and Omoda C3 B-segment (Fiesta-size) cars with ICE, BEV and PHEV options.

Further down the line is the larger J9 SUV, which is badged as Exceed (Chery’s luxury brand) in other markets.

In terms of UK positioning, Omodo will be the volume marque “with elements of premium”, while Jaecoo is premium “with elements of luxury”, Clayton explained.

As well as Exceed, Chery also owns the iCar micro car brand, although it is unlikely to come to the UK.