FANCY A CHINESE?

So far, China's cars have only appealed to your common sense head, not your enthusiast heart. So should Porsche and the rest really fear the Shanghai backed, British designed MG Cyberster?

- OLLIE KEW

Nio. Great Wall. Ora. Build Your Dreams. Sounds like I’m listing a festival line-up of failed X Factor bands, right? Or rejected team names on The Apprentice. In fact they’re some of the biggest carmakers in the world’s largest, most influential car market: China. And before long they might be as household a name here as Tesco, because all of the above are either busy setting up shop in Britain or plotting to make landfall shortly.

As European material and energy costs soar – and old guard giants like Volkswagen and Ford complain it simply isn’t cost effective to make city cars and superminis any more – the Chinese are manoeuvring to carve up the mass market kingdom. Forget the Great Wall. This is a motoring power grab you can see from space.

Of course, if you pick away at the gloss finish on some recent four-wheeled success stories, China’s already pulling the strings away from home. Volvo’s hot streak has transpired with Geely (established 1986, current worth: £10.5bn) signing the cheques. Yes, the same Geely that bankrolled Polestar’s launchpad, creating Europe’s most convincing Tesla rival. And the subscription ‘Netflix for cars’ Lynk&Co brand. And it financed Lotus’s triple threat comeback of a 2,000bhp electric hypercar, a heartland placating petrol sports car and an e-SUV.

Quite reasonably, you’d imagine Geely is an indomitable emperor among carmakers. Wrong. It’s only the seventh biggest game in China. As a football pundit might have it, in the Chinese auto league table the mighty Geely is one of your Aston Villas. One of your Brentfords.