When Omoda arrived in summer 2024 as the first brand from Chinese giant Chery to launch in the UK, it was an unknown name to buyers here.
In the past two years, however, that name has become increasingly familiar, with a rapidly growing dealer network and increasing model range, some of which are now closing on the top of the UK’s new car sales charts.
Omoda was followed into the UK in early 2025 by sister brand Jaecoo, the two brands working in tandem, targeting different customers but building a joint dealer network across the country. Chery itself has since joined them on British motor alleys, and as of June 2026 a fourth brand, Lepas, is just arriving – though the latter two are establishing separate dealer outlets to the Omoda and Jaecoo showrooms.
The parent Chery Group describes Omoda as being a ‘fashion forward’ brand that competes with other mainstream names, while Jaecoo is positioned as a more premium offering. With both brands increasing their model line-ups this strategy is becoming more clearly defined, though it could be argued that the arrival of even more badges from Chery Group is blurring the distinction somewhat.
So who or what is Omoda?
If you follow the car industry, you may have heard of Omoda’s parent company, Chery Group, which is a state-owned car manufacturer that has been around for about 30 years and has been China’s largest car exporter for most of that time. As with China’s other big car companies, it operates a number of subsidiary brands in different markets around the world – as well as Omoda, Jaecoo and Lepas, it has Aiqar, Exeed, Exlantix, iCar, Jetour, Luxeed and Rely, as well as Chery itself.
Omoda doesn’t exist in China itself, being purely an export brand. The same cars offered here are sold under different brand names in their home market. It’s not the first time a major car company has done this – Japanese giant Toyota launched its Lexus luxury brand in the late 1980s, but didn’t start selling Lexus-branded cars in Japan until the mid-2000s. Honda launched its American-focused premium brand, Acura, at about the same time but still doesn’t sell Acura in Japan today.
Omoda has only existed for about four years, but is being steadily introduced to a number of markets across Europe and Africa, and in Mexico. The brand is also sold in Russia, which is obviously controversial as most Western car brands have withdrawn from the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Like most emerging names in the Chinese car industry, Omoda is heavily invested in electric vehicle technology. But unlike some other Chinese brands arriving in the UK, Omoda will continue to launch petrol and hybrid models over the coming years.
When did Omoda launch in the UK?
Omoda & Jaecoo UK set up shop in early 2024, building up its dealer and aftersales network before launching the Omoda brand with its first cars in the autumn of 2024. Since then the model range has grown to four vehicles and more are on the way.
Sister brand Jaecoo followed at the start of 2025, with three models so far on sale, and the company is rapidly expanding its sales network across the UK, having already opened more than 130 dealerships.
What models does Omoda have and what else is coming?
Omoda launched in the UK with a pair of mid-size SUV models called the Omoda 5 (petrol) and Omoda E5 (electric). The Omoda 5 is called the Omoda C5 in some markets, but we assume that Citroën had something to say about that for Europe since it uses the C5 name already.
Neither model greatly impressed UK reviewers, criticisms ranging from the petrol car’s emissions to the general interior quality and the ride, and this resulted in one of the fastest updates to a car in motor industry history. Less than a year after launch new versions arrived with better materials in the interior and suspension changes, even extending to cutting the power of the petrol engine to reduce its emissions.
The Omoda 5 is powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine, which now produces 147hp rather than 190hp, and in mid 2026 a hybrid model joined the range. Early reviews praise its cost and equipment levels but argue rival hybrids are more efficient.
The Omoda 5 EV is (as you can probably guess) an electric version of the same vehicle. It has a different front-end design since it doesn’t need a grille to suck cool air into a petrol engine, but from the front wheels back it looks the same. It did have a different layout inside with a larger touchscreen but the update standardised the interior of both models.
Current Omoda range on our Expert Rating Index
Better received was the Omoda 9, which joined the range in the summer of 2025. A large plug-in hybrid SUV competing with cars such as the Volkswagen Tayron, Vauxhall Grandland, Peugeot 5008 and so on, it has earned generally positive reviews, especially for its highly efficient plug-in hybrid system, its equipment levels and warranty, winning The Car Expert’s ‘Best Family Plug-In Hybrid’ award for 2026.
The next new model in showrooms, likely before the end of 2026, is expected to be the Omoda 4, a small SUV/crossover that will assume the role of entry-level to the Omoda range. While not yet confirmed it is believed the car will be available with both hybrid and full-electric power.
Within the next year Omoda also appears likely to launch an even smaller all-electric SUV, called the Omoda 2 and taking on the likes of the Kia EV2, while there have been indications of a more off-road pitched all-wheel drive model which will sit between the Omoda 5 and Omoda 7.
At this stage, we don’t have any indication of any models coming to the UK that are not SUVs, but that could change depending on demand.
Where can I try an Omoda car?
Since setting up shop in the UK in early 2024, Omoda and Jaecoo have already established an extensive dealer network – at 136 outlets as of June 2026 it is already one of the largest in the UK and continues to steadily grow. Dealer groups signed up include major names such Arnold Clark, Listers and Endeavour.
The company has key finance partnerships in place with established lenders, with BNP Paribas providing consumer finance and Arval UK providing leasing solutions.
The brand has no plans to offer direct online sales at this time, with the company aiming to grow its brands through its dealer network and fleet programmes.
What’s particularly significant about Omoda?
Unlike the rest of the new wave of Chinese car manufacturers heading to Europe, Omoda is offering petrol and plug-in hybrid models alongside the inevitable electric vehicles.
As with Jaecoo, Omoda has a wide range of potential vehicles it can pull from the wider Chery family, so it can react quickly to UK demand for models of any size, shape or fuel type. Initially, the line-up will all be SUVs, but that could change over time.
Omoda models come with a seven-year/100,000-mile new car warranty, which is one of the best in the industry.
What’s in a name?
The name Omoda doesn’t come from the company’s founder, or some piece of ancient Chinese wisdom, or anything remotely meaningful. The reality is a bit more formulaic.
It’s a portmanteau of O – the chemical symbol for oxygen – and the Italian word moda, meaning ‘fashion’. The company has adopted a similar process for Jaecoo, whose name comes from a combination of the German word Jaeger, meaning ‘hunter’, and the English word cool. So “Jaecoo” is supposed to mean “a cool hunter”.
It’s another lesson the Chinese car manufacturers seem to have learned from the Japanese – Lexus, Acura, Infiniti and Eunos were all made-up names for fledgling export-oriented car brands that were supposed to sound important and meaningful in English…
Omoda doesn’t have a logo as such, simply a wordmark with the brand name proudly set in capital letters across the bonnet and tailgate of each car.
Summary
Initially it was easy to dismiss Omoda as yet another Chinese car company with big plans for the UK, and there have been quite a few in recent years. But over their first two years on the UK market there has been plenty of reason to think that Omoda and Jaecoo are two brands that will last.
Chery is one of China’s largest car companies, building more than 2.6 million cars last year. By comparison, the entire UK car industry built less than a third of that number…
As of June 2026 Omoda and Jaecoo had 4.6% of the UK market, which is more than big names such as Vauxhall, Skoda and Toyota – the Omoda 5 was the sixth best-selling car in April and the Jaecoo 7 the third best-selling year to date.
The company has already made a significant investment to build its brands across Europe. It has a choice of cars from the wider Chery family that it can choose to bring to the UK with either of its brands to react to market trends, and has built a network of more than 130 dealers already.
The company has big plans for growth in the UK, so as the Omoda model range continues to expand, you’re likely to see a lot more of them around.
This article was originally published in late 2023, and was updated in June 2026 to reflect Omoda’s rapid growth. Further reporting by Andrew Charman.
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