Why new brands in the UK automotive market are increasing competition for visibility
08/10/2026
The UK new car market is expanding: in September 2026, 350,518 new cars were registered, up 12.1% from September 2025. But dealers aren’t competing against the same collection of well-known brands that have existed previously.
We'll uncover who the newcomers are, how this is affecting brand and dealership visibility online, and what your dealership can do to stay competitive.
Who is fueling this growth in new car registrations?
Nine new Chinese brands (referred to as marques) represent nearly the entire net expansion in car registrations as of September 2026. These marques are not just growing - the pace at which they are growing is substantial. Combined, the Chinese marques have added 114,630 car registrations YTD compared to 2025, with Jaecoo alone contributing 31,910 new registrations this year. For established automotive brands, this represents a big shift in where the market is heading next.
What do new marques and their growth mean for the automotive market?
The landscape is changing for both dealers and consumers, with more buying options, which means increased competition in the market. So, how are these new marques affecting the online search landscape?
1. Consumers have more choice than ever
The introduction and growth of new marques into the industry increases the number of vehicles available to consumers looking to purchase.
Established brands may no longer be the first choice, as customers now have more options for brands, models, and price points.
The Jaecoo 7 was also the best-selling model in September with over 10,800 registrations, ahead of the Tesla Model 3 with over 9,900 registrations, and the Ford Puma coming in third.
These brands no longer seem to dominate the market as they once did. For consumers, this may be positive, as they have more options to find a vehicle that best suits their needs. More options for consumers create significantly more competition in the market.
2. More choice means increased competition... and new opportunities
Dealers should no longer focus solely on what competitors are doing and which new brands and models are capturing consumers’ attention; they must also understand where consumers discover and research purchases.
The industry has seen increased use of LLMs such as ChatGPT and Gemini to research and compare vehicles, making it essential for dealers to understand whether they are visible alongside competitors on these platforms and to understand route ownership to your dealership. Understanding this will help allow dealers to have control of the customer journey and convert demand into opportunity – read more from Fusion on taking control of route ownership to your dealership to get more insights.
New brands may show up, and consumers may consider them during the discovery and research stage of purchase, but this is where established dealers can gain an advantage through brand familiarity, reputation and strong positioning in the market, providing consumers with a brand they may trust or have perceived value for in comparison to the new entrant.
To maintain recognition and trust of a local brand during expansive changes, including new product offerings, Fusion delivered a multi-channel brand awareness campaign designed to retain brand awareness and build new recognition with a niche audience – find out more about our work with Motia.
Are you discoverable where consumer demand is?
It's crucial to understand which brands, models, and components generate interest among your target consumers, which models and brands they compare, and whether you appear alongside these marques in search. The solution to this is:
Discovering local search opportunities
While brands like Jaecoo, Chery and BYD are registering significantly more cars this may not be local to your dealership. Nationally, the market may look one way, but this may not correlate across different areas of the UK.
This is where it becomes key to check your dealership’s local search demand and find out whether the people around you are interested in that brand or model, e.g. search volume for related keywords such as ‘Jaecoo for sale Leeds’.
How to discover lead demand
Once you have an established volume of interest, the next step is capturing prospective buyers through a digital marketing strategy. So, how do you achieve the right mix of marketing channels to reach the right audience for your products and maximise marketing spend efficiency?
Through Marketing Mix Modelling, dealers can understand what elements of their marketing activity contribute to growth and where marketing investment can work harder to win you opportunities. Learn more about how Fusion's Marketing Mix Modelling service can support your strategy.
The Dealer Growth Gap Review
Fusion can bring together national registration data, local search behaviour, your dealership’s site health, and competitor visibility to understand where growth is happening and whether your dealership is positioned to capture the demand.
Our Dealer Growth Gap review can help to show you the larger strategic picture for your dealership and what opportunities you may be missing.
Fusion’s connected services are here to help your dealership
The automotive landscape is rapidly changing with the introduction of several new brands, so staying one step ahead is more important than ever. Pairing local search demand with lead demand isn't new, but it's key to identifying your dealership's growth gap.
Fusion supports both traditional marketing strategy and emerging AI discovery, which is essential in the ever-changing automotive landscape to strengthen positioning and visibility.
