Chinese car brands hold 4.7% of the UK market and nearly 9% of the electric vehicle market. / Photo: AP
"The UK market has always been very open. So I have seen Korean brands, Japanese brands, European green ones get relatively large market shares here because we're perhaps...less nationalistic," Hawes added. While highlighting that the market has grown in the UK, he said issues related to competitiveness needed to be addressed"in terms of reducing the cost of these vehicles."
Hawes pointed to Britain's talks with Canada as a good example of the value of free trade deals. Negotiations came to a halt after Ottawa imposed a 6 percent tariff on imports from the UK.