Chinese car brands are driving a 9% rise in UK new car market sales so far this year, according to Autotrader data.
However, new entrants hoping to break the UK market at scale will need to offer significant value to win over potential buyers.
Ian Plummer, chief customer officer at Autotrader, said: “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.”
A poll of over 2,000 UK drivers revealed 30% of car buyers would want to pay a lower price for a new entrant model.
Of the respondents, 74% would want a price gap of at least £3,000, and 38% want to be saving £5,000 or more to be led away from European or Japanese equivalents.
BYD is considered by 22% of UK drivers, ahead of every other Chinese entrant and within reach of MG (28%).
Jaecoo ranks second (15%), while Omoda itself registers 10%.
BYD has name recognition with 51% of UK drivers – up from 22% in December 2024 – and Jaecoo 48%.
However, most other Chinese brands are familiar to fewer than one in seven.
The share of buyers that prefer traditional brands has fallen from seven in 10 to 55%.
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.
