Huawei-backed Avatr eyes the UK. Again
Avatr, the Chinese EV brand backed by Changan, Huawei and CATL, is testing right-hand-drive cars in the UK after missing its 2025 target. No price or date yet, and the Huawei tech raises questions.
Avatr, a Chinese premium electric car brand backed by Changan, Huawei and battery giant CATL, looks to be edging towards the UK again. Auto Express reported on 24 September that the brand "still has an eye on the UK", and a right-hand-drive Avatr has been spotted testing on British roads. The catch is that we've heard this before.
Avatr still has an eye on the UK after previously suggesting it would be on sale here by 2025.
— Auto Express, 24 September
Who Avatr is, and why the tech matters
Avatr is a joint venture. According to Australia's CarExpert, Changan owns about 41% and CATL about 14%, with Huawei as a "strategic partner" supplying driver assistance and in-car technology. That's what makes it more interesting than yet another Chinese SUV badge: much of what you'd touch and rely on inside the car comes from a tech company, not a carmaker.
The model Auto Express highlights is the 07L, a 4.9-metre SUV that would sit between BMW's iX3 and iX5 and take on cars like the Audi Q6 e-tron and Volvo EX60. It uses an 800-volt system, and dual-motor versions are claimed to reach 0 to 62mph in around 3.7 seconds. In China, it's rated at up to 450 miles on the Chinese CLTC test, which Auto Express estimates is about 365 miles on the European WLTP test. Avatr also sells range-extender versions, which carry a small petrol engine to top up the battery.
Auto Express points out that Avatr has been using a wide, full-width display layout for years, well before BMW made a fuss about its own Panoramic Vision screen.
A UK launch that keeps moving
Avatr first targeted a UK launch by the end of 2025, starting with its 11 SUV, as Autocar and Australia's carsales both reported at the time. That didn't happen. Auto Express says the main obstacle was the lack of right-hand-drive production, which is "no longer an issue".
The evidence since then is mostly indirect:
- a right-hand-drive Avatr 06T saloon has been spotted testing in the UK, according to CarExpert, including at Cambridge Services, according to ChinaEVHome
- ChinaEVHome reports that Avatr has named the UK, Australia and other right-hand-drive markets for expansion in 2027
- Australia gets the 07L first, with CarExpert expecting deliveries in the first half of 2027
There's no UK price or date yet. For reference, the 06T starts at 279,900 yuan in China, but Chinese prices say little about what a car will cost here once shipping, UK specification and dealer margins are added.
The Huawei question
Here's Ada's take. The technology is the selling point and also the awkward bit. In July 2020 the UK government banned new Huawei kit from 5G networks and ordered existing equipment removed by the end of 2027, after a review by the National Cyber Security Centre. Cars aren't phone masts, and that decision was about telecoms networks. But a connected car with cameras, microphones and a data link is a fair thing to ask questions about, as the recent BYD Shark hack showed.
There's a clue in Australia, which also barred Huawei from its 5G networks. CarExpert reports that Avatr's Australian cars will swap Huawei sound systems for Meridian ones, and that its software, Avatr OS, will be "localised for Australia". A UK launch would likely need similar decisions, and buyers deserve a clear answer about which Huawei systems are in the car and where the data goes.
To be fair to Avatr
Launching a car brand in a new country is hard, and plenty of established makers have missed dates. Building right-hand-drive cars and testing them on UK roads shows real work rather than just press releases. Its design chief is Nader Faghihzadeh, formerly of BMW, and Auto Express describes the 07L as a content-rich luxury SUV rather than a performance special. If Avatr does arrive with a sensible price, UK buyers get another serious option in a segment dominated by German brands.
Mind the hype. A car spotted at Cambridge Services isn't the same as a car in a UK showroom.
Sources: Auto Express, CarExpert (Australia launch), CarExpert (right-hand drive), ChinaEVHome, Autocar, carsales, GOV.UK