In brief:

Chinese Skywell halts marketing activities in Britain
Failed in other markets as well
Sales in Israel stopped last year

Tried and failed: Chinese electric vehicle brand Skywell is halting its operations in the British market less than two years after beginning sales there. The British importer, a local company called Innovation Automotive (which also distributes Chinese DFSK models), recently closed its branches and laid off all employees.

According to the company, it cannot compete in the tough market due to a lack of investment from the manufacturer. Last year only 31 units of the electric ET5 SUV were sold in Britain, where it is called the BE11, and this year another 90 units were sold - most to a local dealer now trying to clear them at just 14,000 pounds (64,000 shekels), far below the list price of 32,000 pounds.

The situation in Israel: The last time Skywell cars were registered here was in October 2025, and since then they have been sold as zero-kilometer used cars by importer Kadouri. Additional shipments have not arrived despite promises, and in recent months the importer parted ways with brand manager Maoz Almagor and the public relations firm that handled the activity, without announcing replacements.

In practice the importer has not given up and expects additional models to arrive in the future, including a hybrid model and commercial vehicles, but there is still no target date for resuming imports. During four years of marketing here Skywell sold just over 2,500 cars, a very high figure compared with other Western markets.

Global difficulties: The brand is struggling in other countries too. In Germany the model was launched in 2021 under the name Alaris Bau, but sales were negligible and the importer filed for bankruptcy last year. Skywell also tried entering the Canadian market that year under the name Imperium SEV and claimed 1,500 orders, yet almost no cars were delivered and activity stopped quickly due to legal issues.

In the Thai market the company tried selling the model to the taxi sector under the name Frigate Ariel 8, but without success, while in Iran it is sold as the Nabka ET5 and in Indonesia as the Poltrone G3, with only a few hundred units sold. In other European markets including Romania, Poland and Italy the company manages only negligible deliveries of a few dozen vehicles per year.

One reason for the brand failure is the limited lineup, which consists of a single outdated model that has barely changed over the years. Two years ago Skywell presented a compact family car at the Paris show and in 2023 unveiled an electric sedan, but neither has entered production to date.

What we think: Unlike the case of Aiways for example, which collapsed quickly after selling several thousand cars here, the situation with Skywell is different. This is because it is not a young startup but a large established electronics company that chose to enter the car market, yet did so hesitantly and failed.

And since Skywell has not officially given up, it is entirely possible that in the future it will decide to produce modern models that succeed. But until that happens the current situation looks poor for the brand.