Brits Buying More Chinese Cars – But Prefer Reading About Classic US & European Brands
by on 24th Mar 2026 in News
Taboola research reveals, despite a growing popularity for Chinese cars, US, and European brands remain far more read-about in the UK - revealing the importance of tradition in Britain’s car culture.
Cars developed by Chinese companies made up 9.7% of the new cars registered in the UK in 2025 – up from 4.9% in 2024. Yet despite this rise in popularity, readers continue to show greater interest in more traditional British, American, and European brands.
According to data from Taboola’s network of UK publishers, articles about the Chinese car manufacturer BYD attracted 250,000 over the past three months – making it the most-read about Chinese auto brand. However, the overall most read-about brand in the UK was the US manufacturer Ford, with 1.9 million pageviews in the last three months.
"Chinese cars may be growing rapidly in popularity, but UK readership has yet to catch up," said David Struzzi, communications lead at Taboola. "Brands like Mercedes-Benz and Ford are cemented into people’s cultural imagination - which is why they earn more reader interest than newer Chinese cars."
"While Britons care about tradition, the growing popularity of Chinese brands proves they also admire innovation. There’s little doubt that Chinese cars will continue to grow their share of the UK auto market in years to come, and that the more familiar these brands become, the more Brits will want to read about them."
Follow ExchangeWire