Car brand loyalty continues to erode - Autotrader

AN Autotrader polls finds buyers are becoming less loyal to traditional brands compared to 2024 with the share that prefer brands with a long automotive history falling from 70 to 55%.

Its findings, drawn from a poll of more than 2,000 UK drivers, saw a 15 percentage point drop in people who said that brand name matters to them. This jumps to an 18 percentage point drop in the under-44 age bracket. The pull of European models is also weakening, with just one in seven respondents agreeing that European origin is important, half the level that agreed in 2024.

Chinese-owned brands took more than a fifth of the UK market in April, with their year-to-date share reaching nearly 20%.

The survey also reveals the extent of the rapid penetration of Chinese brands into the UK market with BYD now considered by 22% of UK drivers, ahead of every other new Chinese entrant and within reach of MG, the longest-established Chinese-owned brand in the UK, on 28%.

"BYD is establishing itself in the UK faster than any brand we've tracked in a decade. A name that was virtually unknown to British drivers two years ago is now being considered by more than a fifth of the country. But this isn't yet a story about Chinese brands in general taking off. Right now, it's about two or three brands that have invested seriously in dealer networks, product and visibility that are stealing the march.”

Ian Plummer, Chief Customer Officer, Autotrader Tweet

However, new entrants hoping to break the UK market at scale will need to offer significant value to win over would-be buyers, says Autotrader.

The poll found that 30% of car buyers would want to pay a lower price for a new entrant model. Of this group, 74% would want a price gap of at least £3,000, and 38% want to be saving £5,000 or more to be tempted away from European or Japanese equivalents.

According to the survey, competitive pricing is the biggest influence on “buying Chinese” – top-ranked by 50% of respondents – although safety ratings, longer warranties and good after-sales service ranked as the next biggest factors. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) mentioned concerns over data security and customer service would put them off.

Plummer added: “New brands are marching into the UK, but drivers are pushing for top value from all the new offerings. This is a market that has watched the likes of Hyundai and Kia build credibility over twenty years on a mix of price and warranty – now Chinese brands are being held to a similar standard. The brands that get the economics right will be the ones that scale.”

The top six most in-demand vehicles on Autotrader’s new car platform in June so far are from China.

The most popular fuel type was electric (26.7% share of enquiries) with petrol in second (23.5%). But new entrant brands are dominating the Plug-in Hybrid segment, which saw the highest year-on-year growth of any fuel type – up 8.6 percentage points (pp) on 2025, electric grew by 7.5pp.

Year-to-date, Chinese brands have sold 43% of all PHEVs registered in the UK, comparatively they have sold 20.9% of all EVs so far this year and 15.8% of all new cars sold in the UK in 2026. [SMMT]

Most in-demand new car models on Autotrader in June 2026 ranked by enquiries/leads – all fuel types

Rank	Make	Model	Fuel type	Average Manufacturer RRP	Share of enquiries
1	MG	MG S9	Plug-in Hybrid	£36,752	3.2%
2	Jaecoo	7	Plug-in Hybrid	£35,744	2.2%
3	Jaecoo	8	Plug-in Hybrid	£46,880	2.0%
4	Chery	Tiggo 8	Plug-in Hybrid	£34,617	1.6%
5	MG	MG ZS	Hybrid	£25,171	1.5%
6	MG	MG4 Urban	Electric	£27,077	1.4%
7	Renault	5 E-Tech	Electric	£29,754	1.4%
8	BMW	M3	Petrol	£101,620	1.4%
9	Volkswagen	Golf	Petrol	£39,395	1.3%
10	BMW	M5	Plug-in Hybrid	£124,100	1.2%