Driving the Dragon

China is now at the forefront of electric vehicle adoption and a wave of Chinese manufactured cars is now hitting Europe and the west.

This book explores the history of Chinese car manufacture, looking at some of the key cars in that journey, the false starts and missed opportunities. It starts with the Rover 75 and how it played a key role in moving the Chinese car industry forward. It ends with cars from the likes of BYD, Zeekr and Nio which are becoming mainstream in the UK and mainland Europe and are some of the most competitive electric vehicles on the market, not just in terms of price but also performance and desirability.

For many people China is still a very enigmatic country which has not been helped by recent political events. While the book is a car book it also looks at the country, how things are done and spreads some light on China.

The book underlines the importance of China as a car market and some of the key stages in its development. Two of the biggest milestones the book covers are China becoming both the world’s largest car market and producer in 2008 and becoming the world’s largest new car exporter by volume in 2023.