New entrant brands drive UK new car market growth as consumers eye Chinese models
Chinese car brands are driving a 9% rise in UK new car market sales so far this year, but new entrants hoping to break the UK market at scale will need to offer significant value to win over would-be buyers, according to new research from Autotrader, the UK's largest automotive marketplace.
The rise of China means that there are more brands available to buy for UK car buyers than any other time in the last century. But its findings, drawn from a poll of more than 2,000 UK drivers showed 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.
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%.
Among other Chinese entrants, Jaecoo, Omoda's SUV-focused sister brand, ranks second with 15% consideration, while Omoda itself registers 10%. BYD has name recognition with 51% of UK drivers – up from 22% in December 2024 - and Jaecoo 48%, although most other Chinese brands are familiar to fewer than one in seven.
Buyers are also becoming less loyal to traditional brands compared to 2024 with the share of buyers that prefer brands with a long automotive history falling from seven in 10 to 55%. Similarly, the research 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.
Openness to Chinese alternatives rises to 40% among under-30s, but falls steadily with age, according to the findings. Among those aged 75 and over, just 11% say they would be swayed by a lower price. Male drivers are more than twice as likely to consider a Chinese car.
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.
Despite some of these reservations from consumers, the latest data from Autotrader reveals that UK car buyers are very much warming to Chinese alternatives as the top six most in-demand vehicles in June so far are from the region.
The MG S9 has generated the most share of enquiries (3.2%) on Autotrader’s new car platform this month across all fuel types. This is followed by the Jaecoo 7 which received a 2.2% share. Other Chinese vehicles of note in the top ten include the Jaecoo 8 (1.6%) - the third most popular model and the Chery Tiggo (1.6%) which ranked fourth.
MG also topped the charts for the most popular new car brand in June on Autotrader’s new car platform with an 11.2% share of enquiries whilst Jaecoo (7.4%), Chery (3.9%) and Omoda (3%) all featured in the top ten.
The most popular fuel type in June on Autotrader’s new car platform 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.[1]
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.
"Meanwhile 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.”
Most in-demand new car models on Autotrader in June 2026 ranked by enquiries/leads – all fuel types.
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