“The decline for some of Britain’s household car brands was not driven by motorists falling out of love with those badges. Instead, it reflects broader changes in the way people buy products in general, beginning online with feature comparisons before visiting stores or dealer showrooms,” said Ben Hermer, Operations Director of VDG. Consumers now choose cars in a similar way to buying products on Amazon. And the switch to electric vehicles has added impetus to the changes by presenting cars increasingly like feature-rich consumer goods, enabling relatively unknown names to immediately compete for attention on the basis of value. Just as unknown Chinese consumer brands took off on Amazon, British motorists have catapulted names like Omoda and Jaecoo from zero to 100,000 sales in less than two years. In contrast, even 2025 market winner Volkswagen registered almost 20% fewer cars than in 2015 and names like Fiat and Citroen saw falls of 85% and 75% respectively.”

VDG Observations and Opinions

• Overall, the five leading marques in 2015 collectively accounted for 43.9% of registrations, but only 32.0% in 2025. In contrast, over just five years, new Chinese entrants grew tenfold.
• VDG says that onetime limited choice between familiar brands has been transformed into a marketplace overflowing with unfamiliar but highly-specified and affordable Chinese products. This closely mirrors the way Amazon changed the way consumers shop. The onetime dominant brands and their dealerships have therefore come under similar pressures as the High Street, in competition with the internet.
• While it is usually the growth in online car purchasing that leads to comparisons with Amazon, VDG argues that the greater impact of Amazon’s influence on the automotive market has been increased competition through price, specification, availability and digital appeal. Ben Hermer, Operations Director of VDG, said: “Car buyers are increasingly applying their online shopping habits, in buying electronics and household products from unfamiliar online brands on Amazon, to their car buying process.”