BYD scores highest for brand recognition, challenge remains for other new marques

BYD is the most widely recognised new entrant brand among car buyers outperforming fellow Chinese brands as well as those from the US and Vietnam, according to consumer research by JudgeService.

Its Car Brand Tracker polled the views of 1,244 owners to measure their perceptions and awareness of new carmakers.

BYD which made its UK debut in 2023 led the Top 10 rankings for spontaneous awareness with 13% of participants having heard of the brand, significantly ahead of all the other makes including Polestar (4%), even though the Volvo sister brand has been on sale in the UK since 2020.

A further 4% were aware of NIO, despite sales not expected to start in the UK until 2025, while only 1% mentioned Omoda which debuts later this year.

No-one in the survey named Rivian, WM Motor, Vin Fast or the recently discontinued US-based Fisker. Leapmotor, the Chinese carmaker which has a joint venture with Stellantis and will launch in the UK next year, also had no spontaneous recognition.

When it came to prompted awareness, brands with a UK presence generally fared well with Polestar taking the top position with over half (53%) saying they had heard of it, followed by Genesis (25%) and BYD (21%). However, GWM Ora (4%) failed to make the Top 10 despite being on sale in the UK.

“The results of our Car Brand Tracker show the amount of brand building work most of the new entrants have yet to do to get themselves onto car buying shopping lists, including those who have already opened sales channels in the UK,” said Neil Addley, managing director of JudgeService.

“Inevitably, many of these brands will sell on price but that still means they must build high levels of awareness and trust before buyers take a step into the unknown,” he said.

Addley believes BYD is presenting a textbook approach to establishing itself as a competitive alternative brand having recruited several big name franchised dealer groups, including Arnold Clark and Vertu Motors, and supporting its dealer partners with high profile marketing, which has ramped up with its high profile involvement as a Euro 2024 sponsor.

“BYD is undoubtedly leading the way for new entrants. From what we know of its ambitious plans to grow sales and dealer representation in the UK, its innovative approach to new products and plans to build cars in Europe, it is a brand on the move,” said Addley.