Chinese SUV dubbed 'Temu Range Rover' becomes the UK's best-selling vehicle in September and beats Tesla

A Chinese SUV dubbed by some as the ‘Temu Range Rover’ was the best-selling car in the UK in September 2026, outselling Tesla among other brands.

Not only that, it was the only car with five-figure sales that month.

And this doesn’t feel like a one-off; it feels like a trend.

There’s only one minor thing we need to address.

Chinese brands are getting a lot better a lot faster

Historically, Chinese brands had three major weak points, two of which were a bit more subjective.

The objective one was quality.

Until not long ago, Chinese cars were not that good.

That problem is now resolved, evidently, and there are two ‘weak’ points left: names and design.

The naming issue might feel minor, but it’s a common sentiment across the industry because a lot of these Chinese cars have names that are not particularly engaging.

For every BYD Seal (above), which is a relatively cool name, there’s another which sounds like a washing machine.

The other issue is design.

Not because these cars are bad-looking, but because they’re often – how can we put it nicely – a little too similar to European and American equivalents.

But this problem is being fixed quite quickly because Chinese automakers are now hiring elite car designers.

Wolfgang Egger from Audi and Alfa Romeo to BYD, Giles Taylor from Rolls-Royce to FAW/Hongqi, and so on.

Which leads us to the car you see here.

This is clearly a ‘homage’ to the Range Rover

The Jaecoo 7 was designed by former GM and Ford designer Steve Eum.

When it first came out, people immediately noticed the resemblance to the Range Rover.

But, unlike the Range Rover, the Jaecoo 7 is cheap.

In the UK, it starts at around £29,000 – equivalent to approximately $38,000.

Available with a gas engine, a gas-hybrid powertrain, and also as a PHEV, the 7 is absolutely flying off the shelves.

This was the best-selling car in the UK in September 2026

In September 2026, the Jaecoo 7 was the best-selling car in the UK, outselling both the Tesla Model 3 and the Model Y.

10,183 new 7s were registered in September 2026, followed by 9,929 Model 3s, and 6,958 Ford Pumas.

This is definitely telling, especially because we have to remember this wasn’t a one-off.

It already happened around a year ago, and it feels like it’s going to happen again soon.

What’s more, Chinese brands aren’t using the money they’re making from these sales to buy caviar and celebrate; they’re using the cash to fund the new projects.

Initially, Chinese manufacturers would almost exclusively focus on EVs because they were just much better at it than most rival automakers.

Then, they began using that revenue to fund development of hybrids and internal combustion engine because they know that these powertrain options are still popular in several regions.

Maybe people like Jim Farley have a point when they say it’s already ‘too late’ for some legacy automakers.