Nearly half of UK drivers would consider a Chinese car, Carwow survey finds

New research from the car-shopping platform Carwow suggests 49% of British motorists would now weigh a Chinese brand for their next vehicle — more than double the 24% recorded in the first half of 2023. Buying intent is backing up the sentiment: enquiries for Chinese models on the platform surged 119% in the first seven months of 2026 year-on-year, and such brands captured 30% of all leads in the first half of the year, twice the share of a year earlier.

Price is the chief draw. Some 42% of respondents cited value for money, while about a quarter said they expect competitive discounts. Familiarity is rising in tandem: over the past year, awareness of Jaecoo climbed from 46% to 69%, Chery jumped from 16% to 50% and Omoda from 42% to 57%. BYD is now recognized by 71% of those surveyed, against 28% in 2023, Xpeng's recognition has grown from 8% to 20%, and the share of respondents who had heard of none of the listed Chinese brands fell from 23% in late 2025 to 16%.

Carwow's Ben Carter argued the shift goes beyond cost-of-living pressure, describing it as "a shift in how people think about their cars." The survey lands in a market where Chinese entrants keep multiplying: BYD began UK passenger-car sales with the Atto 3 in March 2023 and has since been joined by Chery's Omoda and Jaecoo badges and by Xpeng, while SAIC-owned MG is long established — its MG4 was Britain's second most-registered electric car in 2023 with 21,461 units.

Britain also remains more open than the EU, which has levied countervailing duties of 7.8% to 35.3% on China-built electric cars since October 2024; as of early July 2026 the UK's Trade Remedies Authority had not opened an investigation of its own. Auto Express's Steve Walker likened the Chinese influx to the earlier arrivals of Japanese and Korean makers, saying the newcomers are squeezing established brands on value. The article's editor cautions that stated willingness to consider is not the same as actually buying, but notes Chinese brands are dismantling the unfamiliarity barrier far faster than Škoda, Toyota, Hyundai or Kia once did.