New entrant car brands could account for 15% of the UK market by the end of 2026 and hit 20% in only a few years, according to new insights shared by Autotrader.
Speaking on the Car Dealer Podcast following Car Dealer Live, Autotrader's commercial director Ian Plummer said the speed at which these brands are growing is outpacing earlier forecasts and is already being reflected in consumer behaviour.
'We're expecting the market share for those brands to get beyond 15% this year and get to probably 20% in no more than a couple of years,' he said.
'We originally said 20% for new entrant brands would be a forecast for 2030… we did that in the early 2020s and people said no chance.'
Plummer added that recent performance from brands such as BYD, Omoda and others is already pointing in that direction, with strong momentum building across the market.
He said: 'If you look at what's happening now, BYD and Jaecoo together did around 5% in December last year. They're both looking for similar numbers across a full year.
'MG is already operating at that sort of level as well, and when you start to add in other brands coming through, you're quickly getting north of 15% market share.'
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While official market share figures are still catching up, Autotrader's internal data suggests consumer demand is already running ahead of those numbers.
'If you look at the lead indicator of Autotrader, it's leads, but it's also an early indicator of where the market is going,' Plummer explained.
'One in four new car leads last year were sent to these new entrant brands. If that's at 20-something percent in terms of leads, likely that's going to flow through into sales. So it's definitely shaping the market.'
He said the rapid rise of these brands is being driven primarily by product strength and value, rather than simply low pricing – something he believes is often misunderstood.
'Fundamentally, product is definitely a big driver. They've got very good products,' he said. 'People often say 'cheap Chinese EVs', but I always say there's three words there and two of them are wrong.
'They're not cheap – what they are is great value. There's loads of options on them, they're very content rich, which makes them good value, not necessarily cheap but definitely affordable.'
Plummer also pointed out that many of these brands are not solely focused on electric vehicles, with plug-in hybrids and other alternatives playing an increasingly important role in their growth.
'They're mostly not EVs. There are a lot of EVs
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Chinese car brands could capture 20% of UK market share within just a few years, much faster than predicted.
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This rapid growth could reshape Britain's automotive landscape and challenge established European manufacturers.
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One in four new car leads in the UK last year went to these emerging Chinese brands like BYD and MG.
