Without a doubt, the dominant theme in the UK car retail market over the last couple of years has been the arrival of the Chinese.
Brands such as BYD, GWM Ora, Omoda and Jaecoo have all targeted a slice of the UK market, promising almost entirely electric cars of good quality at keen prices and aggressively signing up extensive dealer networks to sell them out of.
But while the likes of BYD are rapidly becoming names recognised by UK buyers, very few have likely heard of Skywell – a name that sounds like it belongs in a science-fiction movie.
Skywell is, however, a Chinese car brand like many of its potential rivals, with a great deal of commercial clout behind it and a desire to earn its share of the UK appetite for new cars. But compared to some of the other brands, Skywell is starting in a more modest manner, coming to the market with just one model already on sale for four years in Japan and, for now, a small UK dealer network.
So who or what is Skywell?
Skywell’s origins lie in a manufacturer formed in 2000 with the delightful name of the Nanjing Golden Dragon Bus Company. NGDB grew quickly to become one of China’s leading electric bus manufacturers until 2011, when it became part of the Skyworth Group – one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies, boasting an annual turnover of more than £21 billion.
In its new form and under the name Skywell, the company diversified into trucks, vans and eventually cars, with the Skywell BE11 electric SUV launching in China in 2020. Now, the company is expanding into the UK as part of its overall ambitions in Europe, with the seeming lack of enthusiasm for applying tariffs on Chinese products arriving on our shores no doubt making selling in Britain an attractive prospect.
When did Skywell launch in the UK?
Skywell is a brand-new name only just establishing itself in the UK market in late 2024. The cars are being imported by Cirencester-based Innovation Automotive, which specialises in bringing electric vehicles into the country and already sells a small electric van for Chinese brand Dongfeng Motor (DFSK).
The first Skywell BE11s are likely to be on UK roads at the start of 2025.
What models does Skywell have, and what else is coming?
The launch model is the BE11, officially a mid-sized electric SUV but, in truth, a pretty big machine. It’s available with two battery sizes, claiming a maximum range between charges of just over 300 miles, and one trim level.
Skywell heavily promotes the fact that it does not have options, just extensive standard equipment lists that run to opening panoramic sunroofs, wireless phone chargers and smart electric tailgates – and all this at prices under £40,000.
Skywell’s first ‘proper’ model designed specifically for Europe is the Q, an electric hatchback. Unveiled at the Paris motor show in September 2024, it’s expected in UK showrooms late in 2025.
At the same time, Skywell will broaden its reach by launching a large electric van. Currently without a model name, it was shown alongside the Q in Paris. A fourth exhibit at the show was the Skyhome, a large electric saloon with ‘all the bells and whistles’, but Skywell is yet to confirm whether this will be sold in the UK.
Where can I try a Skywell car?
Currently, in not very many places. Skywell admits that it’s been beaten to potential UK dealers by the likes of Omoda Jaecoo with their aggressive network growth ambitions and immediate product to sell.
The company has so far only signed up around ten dealers, curiously mostly on the western side of the UK, though it hopes to expand this to 25 by Spring 2025 and around 50 by the end of the year.
It has made a deal with Halfords to establish 300 servicing venues and opened a large parts hub in Doncaster to ensure dealer technicians won’t have to wait around for components. Doing this will aid residual values and, as a result, insurance costs.
The company is not targeting the big dealer names either – Skywell’s ambitions, or more pertinently those of Innovation Automotive, lie with smaller, local groups and family-run independents that have previously sold the likes of Suzuki or KGM (nee SsangYong).
What’s particularly significant about this company?
Skywell doesn’t lack know-how in electrics and electronics. Its founder, NGDB, has long enjoyed a huge slice of the market in China with larger electric vehicles, initially buses and then commercial vehicles.
Meanwhile, becoming part of the Skyworth Group made available to this start-up the electronic know-how of one of the world’s largest producers of consumer electronics, producing thousands of televisions, audio-visual systems and the like. In theory, all of that expertise should stand the car manufacturer in good stead when competing against the technology and innovation of rivals.
What makes Skywell different to the rest?
Skywell is taking a very different route to the UK market, almost a toe-in-the-water exercise instead of the high-profile big-budget launches we have seen from other Chinese manufacturers. Whether this will change when the brand launches its first ‘proper’ European car towards the end of 2025 remains to be seen.
Summary
So many Chinese brands have launched in the UK in recent times that buyers may wonder if they can all be successful. Will they take over from the established car makers, or will one or two fall by the wayside?
The new car market has never been more cut-throat, and any new entrant is going to have to work very hard not to be left behind. Whether Skywell’s low-key approach will bring it the level of success it needs is a big question. Watch this space…
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