11 Surprisingly Awesome Cars From China (And 9 That Are Junk) (2023)

Soon, car manufacturers fear that China may dominate the world’s car market. It is not hard to do as they already manufacture cars for top automobile manufacturers thanks to cheap labor and material. So, even if you wouldn’t buy a car directly from a Chinese manufacturer, you should consider that the vehicle you are driving or thinking about may have been assembled in China. For instance, in the next few years, Volvos will be built in China (and even some Chevys). Buying a Chinese car is not always bad, but the Chinese are renowned for clones and defective products. But who knows, maybe in the future, a Chinese vehicle may be the only choice that you have.

Updated March 2022: China is notorious for cheap knock-offs and subpar-quality products. They're also known for building consistently solid products that billions of people use worldwide. While cars from China haven't won the world over, some decent examples and some not-so-great examples exist. We've updated this list to include a few more to show off the extensive range of Chinese cars.

Not all Chinese cars are outright garbage, but they have a few questionable ones. They also have some excellent vehicles in the luxury car segment. When we think about Chinese brands, we think about Geely, FAW, Great Wall, and Dongfeng. Usually, most of their designs are bad copies of the models we know, and they may make the vehicles with parts that Japanese and Korean manufacturers refuse to use. Though they have some questionable cars, many are actually pretty decent and affordable. Here are some Chinese cars that are good and some that are garbage.

20 Good: Hongqi L5

The Hongqi L5 is often called the Rolls-Royce of the Chinese car world. And with a price up to $800,000, the L5 is quite the Rolls-Royce-esque vehicle. Currently, the Hongqi L5 is the flagship vehicle for the Chinese market and the elite group of people who can afford one.

At 5.55 m (18.2 ft) long, the L5 fits perfectly into lucky number idealism as five is often considered lucky. Additionally, the L5 sports either a V8 or V12 engine with 400 horsepower. While Jeremy Clarkson may think it looks like a cartoon car, we think it looks like a cool retro throw-back but can't quite shake the feeling it's not worth the price tag.

19 Good: Wuling Hongguang Mini EV

Cars continue to climb in costs. New models in the U.S. stretch closer to $20,000, starting meaning a new vehicle is out of the question for millions of people. China took its traffic and high-vehicle costs to heart and produced the incredibly popular Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.

The Wuling Honguang Mini EV has a range of about 100 miles and a top speed of 62 MPH. It's the ultimate city car. It would be great to offer such a cheap alternative stateside. Especially since the starting price is around $4,500 new, and the EV status means it could qualify for tax rebates, but everything comes with a price. The Mini EV is as stripped down as you could imagine. There are no comforts like heated seats, and the one cup holder arguably couldn't hold anything.

18 Good: Geely Icon Concept

The Geely Icon looks very much like its design was copied from either Range Rover or Volvo XC40. If you don’t know Geely, you’re not alone, but it is soon expected that even the layman Chinese citizen will quickly learn about the manufacturer.

Because the car looks like a high-end SUV, it may have mass export appeal in the Asian markets, especially if it costs a lot less than a famous manufacturer’s high-end SUV. Despite being a concept car, it should soon go into production as Geely hasn’t produced a concept that has not gone into production within a year.

17 Good: Hongqi Concept

When we first saw the name Hongqi, we sort of thought we read Hyundai. We had to look twice. Hongqi is made by FAW, a company known for making state limousines for China’s elitist class.

With this concept car, it seems as if they are trying to break into the coupe market so that the elite can drive themselves. I don’t know about you, but this car looks like the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Concept car from its side profile. The Chinese are known for copying car designs and making clones, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they copied a million-dollar vehicle.

16 Good: Brilliance V3

The Brilliance V3 is a subcompact produced by Brilliance Auto and launched in China in 2015. The car actually deserves to be on this list because it is one of Brilliance’s bestsellers. The V3 has a glitzy exterior and standard equipment. If this car were exported to the US, it could cost less than $10,000.

Unlike most of the competitor cars on the market, the V3 actually has a unique look. In 2017, the car got a facelift with chrome grills and connected headlamps. You can get this crossover with either a manual or automatic transmission. The vehicle also comes with an extended warranty.

15 Good: Qoros 5

The Qoros 5 is designed and engineered in Graz by Magna Steyr. It’s not really popular out of China, per se, but the vehicle is pretty decent.

It is one of the vehicles on this list that is comparable with a lot of the midsized SUVs offered in Europe. This vehicle, though, is not one of the cheaper models offered in China; it is considered to be a premium and luxury vehicle that is valued at about $29,000. Many people actually would not be willing to buy an unnamed car for this price in other markets, no matter how good it is.

14 Good: Changan Eado

The Changan Eado is a pretty decent midsized sedan with excellent design, performance, handling, fit, finish, and overall quality. It was designed in Turin, and it is a sedan that you want to love, as it looks good and drives well.

It may be a bit pricey for an unknown car manufacturer, retailing a little under $16,000 for its fully loaded model that comes with leather seats. A comparable SUV may retail for a bit more, but consumers may prefer to buy a car from a manufacturer that they are familiar with, even if it's more expensive to do so.

13 Good: Luxgen U5 Compact Crossover

The Luxgen is a Chinese manufactured vehicle that is on par with European manufacturers’ offerings. While some compare the Luxgen U5 to the Toyota C-HR that it mimics, it is unfair to compare both cars. While the fully-loaded version comes with continuously variable transmission, it costs a lot less than the C-HR with similar features and power.

Another impressive feature of the car is the size of its touchscreen, which is an impressive 12 inches. If you are in the market for a car, and you also have a budget, you should definitely get it.

12 Good: Wey R57

Wey has sort of become a household name in China as the premium brand of Great Wall Motors, similar to how Acura is Honda's. Nonetheless, their R57 is a model that they plan to export to Europe and the US by the start of 2020. The R57 is one of their models that has a high perceived quality.

The design is pleasing, and Wey has put a lot of effort into branding the product, but we are not yet sure about the drive dynamics. Nonetheless, we wish Wey and Great Wall Motors all the best with their efforts to outsource to the US with the new tariffs.

11 Good: Geely X1

The Geely X1 is shorter than the Ford Ka small car. A top-of-the-line model in this car would retail for under $9,000 in China, and you can get the base model for about $6,000.

It seems as if you get a lot of value for your dollar in China. The Ka+, a comparable car, retails for about $11,500 if you were to get it in Germany. So, if you ever move to China and want a small car to navigate the city or get the opportunity to get your hands on this car, you should get it.

10 Good: Dongfeng A9 Aeolus

Dongfeng is known for its line of pure electric cars, hybrids, multipurpose vehicles, and dual-fuel cars. This is a pretty decent idea in a country that is known for having one of the highest carbon emissions in the world.

This car definitely gets some attention and established Dongfeng as a serious competitor in the Chinese automobile market. If the manufacturer were more popular, consumers would have begged Dongfeng to produce the concept sport electric vehicle. But how credible is this sports car as an EV, and how much range does it have?

9 Bad: Zotye i-across

We hate this car because we have little respect for any manufacturer that poorly copies the design of a luxury vehicle manufacturer. In this case, Zotye cloned one of Porsche’s designs.

The front grille, though, is a bit different from what Porsche has on its vehicle, and it isn't very good to look at. Despite being used to cheaper vehicles than consumers in the west, Chinese buyers would not be too interested in purchasing this vehicle because it is not original. When buying a car, some people expect to get value for money. It means that Zotye i-across needs to be so much more.

8 Bad: Besturn B30

We were not too sure what this vehicle was. When this car was launched at the 2018 Beijing motor show, many didn’t know if the company's name was spelled incorrectly on the badge. If that’s the case, consumers wouldn’t be too confident purchasing a unit of this car from the manufacturer, even if it is dog cheap. Besturn is also a subsidiary of the FAW group. It seems as if FAW is somewhat dominating the automobile market in China.

7 Bad: BYD Concept

BYD doesn’t mean "bring your design," but it instead means to "build your dream." Wouldn’t it just be cool to go to an automobile manufacturer and have them build your dream car precisely as you want it?

Well, you can, especially if you have tons of money. It’s too bad, though, that this car’s name is a bit misleading considering that ex-Audi designer Wolfgang Egger was leading the design of this car; no wonder the car looks a bit Germanic in its design. We expected a lot more from the BYD concept, and to be honest, we are a bit disappointed with their so-called design evolution.

6 Bad: Lifan 320

What the Lifan 320 looks like the 2001-2006 version of the Mini Cooper. Just a really sad and pitiful version. If you don’t see too well, then maybe it could pass as a mini.

However, despite it being a clone, it was exported to Peru and Russia because who really cares about what type of car they drive right, so long as it gets you from points A to B safely, but this doesn’t really. You wouldn’t want to get this car, though, because it’s a clone and also because it is rated as being one of the most unsafe cars on the market.

5 Bad: Foton Tunland

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The Foton Tunland is a Chinese pickup truck visually based on the Japanese Nissan Navara. While the truck gives a decent first impression with its solid doors and well-made interior, what he hates about it is the fake aluminum trim. If you’re doing something, we say go all out, and fake aluminum is not going all out.

Another issue with this vehicle is its rattling gearbox. That can be a peeve, especially for a young driver lacking confidence. It requires a bit extra to shuffle this car forward, but all the issues with this truck would have a lot to do with the fact that it’s a budget pickup.

4 Bad: Chery QQ

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This car didn’t even get to 1.0L in terms of engine size and fell short of that by 0.2L. The good news is that this car can still beat a lawnmower. Though the car is so tiny that it looks like a lawnmower, Cherry had to audacity to outfit this car with 5-doors and seat people in the back seat.

The car is legit, only 11.6 feet long. The small engine makes a bit of noise, and the exhaust sounds like bolts are being fired from the pipes. Unfortunately, you will have to listen to those noises because it has no radio. Another thing it doesn’t have is air-conditioning.

3 Bad: Chery Tiggo 2.0

For a small fortune, you can upgrade your QQ3 to a crossover SUV. Instead of wasting your time with Chery vehicles, it’s probably best that you just get yourself a CR-V or a Rav4 as the car is a clone of both SUVs.

Apart from being a mashup of two SUVs, the 2.0 L engine is whinny, and the speedometer on this vehicle is a disconnect, so you have a case against speeding tickets. Also, you’re probably going to hate steering the car as the steering lacks a sense of self-centering, so you have to put a lot of effort into steering around corners—total waste of money.

2 Bad: Landwind X7

If you want to get a Range Rover without paying for the Land Rover badge, you can probably consider getting the Landwind X7. The Landwind X7 actually looks like the Range Rover Evoque. See, even the name is similar to Land Rover’s, and even the branding across the top of the hood is in the same position.

In China, it’s pretty normal to have a cloned car, but if you bring that to the west, you’re going to find yourself in some embarrassing situations with this subpar Range Rover bootleg. Just imagine how noticeable this would be, especially if you park next to the real thing.

1 Bad: Dong Feng Motors EQ2050 HMV

Hummer is iconic. Its military style, huge power, and extreme size won both fans and critics. In China, Dong Feng Motors felt they could do better. They were hugely mistaken. Taking poor copies of Humvee parts and fashioning a crude copy from imported shells, the closest they ever got was the EQ2050 HMV.

This photocopied version of the Humvee only produces 150 horsepower from its diesel engine. Even worse than the crappy engine is the lame sub-100-MPH top speed. It may look like a Humvee, but it most definitely isn't.