Chinese car maker Changan relies on British brains for new electrified models

The Changan Deepal S07 is the first model to arrive from Changan this month - (Changan)

Three more new Chinese car brands – Changan, Deepal and Avatr – are all set to arrive in the UK in the coming weeks and months. But far from being unknown newcomers, the models they’ll offer have been honed in Britain. In fact, the parent company, Changan Auto, has been quietly running an R&D centre just outside Birmingham for the past 15 years.

“This is a real R&D centre,” explains Nic Thomas, managing director of Changan UK. “We’ve got about a hundred engineers working here on powertrain engineering, primarily powertrain R&D, doing real things.”