T he UK is no stranger to foreign cars. The bestseller lists in recent years have been dominated by the US’s Ford Puma, Japan’s Nissan Qashqai, Korea’s Kia Sportage and occasionally even Tesla’s Model Y.

But in March the top 10 provided a shock: a Chinese car leapt into the lead.

Little more than a year after launching in the UK, China’s Chery sold 10,064 of its Jaecoo 7 crossover SUVs during the month, beating all the usual suspects.

It was not the first Chinese-made car to make it to UK number one (it follows Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model 3 and the HS made by MG, a formerly British brand owned by China’s SAIC).…