Volkswagen is coming up with unique ideas to fight China in the car sales war

Comfortably and confidently, the Volkswagen brand currently occupies the top slot in the UK new-car sales league. And in the immediate future, there’s zero prospect of it being knocked off its perch.

But just as VW fought hard to steal that position from Ford, I believe the German firm will, in turn, be dislodged. No need to panic just yet, though; it’ll probably be years, not months, before it’s dethroned.

So, the big, obvious question is: who’ll eventually inherit that coveted number one slot?

With the massive bonus of greenfield factories in the UK and talented, productive, well behaved Brit workers, Nissan and Toyota are – on paper – best placed to become market leader. Especially because they enjoy the huge added benefit of selling their Japanese-built models alongside those produced in Britain. But unfathomably, neither has lodged a serious challenge to rise to number one.

Same goes for South Korea’s plucky Hyundai and upstart sister, Kia. Both import cars built in Europe, their home country and elsewhere. And nothing would please them more than to be top of the UK sales tree. But neither is – or looks likely to be, with their retail prices having shifted from low/medium to medium/high. Or in some cases very high.

All this means that only a Chinese firm stands a realistic chance of toppling VW. Almost 20 China-based brands are already peddling their wares in the UK. Eventually, there’ll be dozens. So it’s too early to predict which firm will take over at the top.

That said, a few contenders are emerging. Last month VW sold fewer cars than in the same month of 2024. Yet BYD sales rose by 349 per cent during the 12-month period, Omoda impressed with a 142 per cent rise, while Jaecoo is even more remarkable, after selling zero cars in October ’24 but around 100 per day last month – and that’s before the arrival of its smaller 5 SUV starting at under £25k and with Range Rover-esque looks.

But VW won’t relinquish its crown without a fierce fight. And on 3 November it added a weapon it hopes will see off the growing threats. VW calls its latest offer (which runs until 31 March 2026) the ‘ID. Promise’ – and I think it’s a brave, groundbreaking deal.

Any retail customer who buys a new, pure-electric ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, or ID.7, but later regrets his or her decision, can – within an 80 to 100-day window from the point of taking delivery – return it to the supplying dealer and demand an immediate refund. They won’t get back every penny of their original outlay, but they will receive 97 per cent of it after a not unreasonable “three per cent depreciation charge” is imposed on those who decide to throw in the towel after two or three months as EV drivers.

Good on VW for such a daringly different, consumer-friendly initiative. If it’s to retain its top spot, it needs imaginative and unique schemes like this. Long may they continue.

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