Skywell is stuck. The UK importer, Innovation Automotive, has just closed its doors. No warning. No fanfare.
The brand barely got its footing here. They launched with the BE11 SUV in late 2023 (or maybe it felt like late 2024 to us buyers), trying to stir interest that simply wasn’t there. Look at the numbers. June 2024? 64 registrations. That’s their “best month” ever.
Hard to celebrate when the total for 2024 was 6. And 2025 brought only 31. January to May 2026 added just 26 more.
Six plus 31 plus 26 is 63. One less than a single month in 2024. It is a slow burn, mostly smoke.
“In no way a reflection upon Skywell”
That’s the line from a spokesperson at Innovation Automotive. The firm also moved DFSK vans, and apparently the closure is purely a financial decision by the owners. They couldn’t secure the cash needed to compete in a saturated market. Now they are packing up and focusing on the Middle East.
But here is the snag. Warranties. What happens when your EV breaks down in six months?
Skywell is hunting for a new UK partner. Sixteen dealers across England and Wales have heard the bad news. Innovation Automotive claims there is a significant stock of spare parts for the Skywells. They hope to bundle those with the brand when sold to a new buyer. If that happens, warranty support might limp on.
No deal is signed. It hangs there, undecided.
DSFK is worse off. “Limited” stock of parts, supposedly “relocated,” but the future looks murky. The EC35 electric van? Warranties are gone. No more. Individuals from the old team are working on their own, trying to find some loophole, some way out for the van owners. Why would you do that, though?
All staff walked out on 30 June. Redundant. The spokesperson Autocar talked to was among them, likely giving an interview while their own badge was packed away.
Skywell still has the cars. The brand itself isn’t dead. It just doesn’t have a home in the UK anymore. Until a new investor steps forward, owners are flying blind, hoping the spare parts promise holds up. Or that the Middle East owners decide Britain isn’t too far to fly to.
The question lingers, quiet and heavy, over every empty driveway.
