Teesport handles 5,000 vehicles in major import shipment

Teesport handles 5,000 vehicles in one of its biggest recent automotive ship calls

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A shipment of 5,000 vehicles has arrived at Teesport, including the first 1,300 Lepas plug-in hybrid cars imported into the UK market.

By The Tees Editorial Desk · 9 September 2026

Thousands of newly imported vehicles stored at Teesport following a major automotive vessel call Image: PD PortsImage source

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Teesport has handled a shipment of 5,000 vehicles from China in what operator PD Ports describes as one of the port’s largest automotive vessel calls in recent years.

The cargo included models from Chery’s automotive portfolio, including Chery and Jaecoo vehicles, as well as the first 1,300 Lepas plug-in hybrid cars to enter the UK market.

A large arrival with a Teesside logistics job attached

Moving thousands of vehicles through one port call is not simply a matter of unloading them from a ship. The vehicles need secure storage, handling, onward transport and links into national dealer and distribution networks. Teesport’s position close to the A19, A1 and cross-Pennine routes is part of the reason PD Ports is pitching the site for this type of work.

The port has a long history of automotive logistics and says that, at its previous peak, it handled more than 100,000 vehicles a year. Recent investment in storage and security has been intended to strengthen that side of the business again.

PD Ports chief executive Paul Foreman said the 5,000-vehicle call both the physical scale of the port and the experience of teams handling high-volume automotive cargo. The company is presenting the shipment as that Teesport can play a larger role in UK vehicle supply chains.

Why one ship call matters locally

For the Tees Valley, ports are easy to treat as background infrastructure because much of their work happens behind fences and away from ordinary town-centre life. But large cargo movements generate work across stevedoring, storage, security, haulage and logistics, while the ability to handle them is part of how the region competes for future trade.

The shipment also gives Teesport a place in the UK launch of Lepas plug-in hybrid vehicles. That does not by itself tell us what long-term volumes will follow, and one large vessel call should not be mistaken for a permanent . It is, however, a concrete piece of new trade passing through the area at scale.

PD Ports says Teesport has deep-water access and dedicated automotive compounds, with round-the-clock security provided by port teams and Teesport Harbour Police. Those facilities allowed the vehicles to be held on site before onward distribution.

The more useful measure will come over time: whether this call leads to repeat traffic and sustained work. For now, 5,000 vehicles arriving in one operation is a reminder that Teesside’s industrial landscape is also a live national logistics network, moving goods from a ship on the Tees into markets across the country.