• 44% of motorists with £50,000 to spend would consider buying a Chinese car over an established prestige brand
• 27% say a well-designed and well-made car is more important than the manufacturer’s badge
• However, 20% say European, US and Japanese manufacturers make better cars at this price point, says September’s Startline Used Car Tracker

September’s Startline Used Car Tracker reports that 27% believe a well-designed and well-made car is more important than the brand, 21% that Chinese manufacturers are capable of competing with established upmarket brands and 15% that they have proven their abilities by making successful cheaper cars.

However, 20% believe European, US and Japanese manufacturers make better cars at this price, 19% say badge appeal and heritage become more important when spending a greater amount, and 14% say Chinese manufacturers are specialists only in cheaper cars.

Also, 10% say Chinese cars don’t project the image they want and 11% that making successful luxury cars is more difficult than cheaper ones.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Chinese car makers are starting to move upmarket, planning SUVs, saloons and sports cars priced above £50,000 and sometimes costing much more. This is taking them well beyond the budget mainstream market where they have already found a high degree of success in the UK.

“What our research reveals is that approaching half of people who had this amount of money to spend—very much in the heartland of models from Audi, BMW and Mercedes—would consider a Chinese car and relatively few would be deterred by a belief that established manufacturers are better at this price point.

“Essentially, it shows that if Chinese manufacturers can make good prestige cars, a lot of people will consider buying them.”

Looking into the luxury sector, 46% of people who could afford a Porsche, Bentley or Aston Martin, would also be willing to consider a Chinese brand, the Startline Used Car Tracker shows.

Paul said: “This is perhaps a more surprising finding. There is probably an assumption that people with six figures to spend are very much swayed by the badge of the car they are buying, but again, there is a strong suggestion that even a large proportion of buyers here would be swayed by the right model from China.”

The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research, well-known in the motor industry for their business intelligence reporting and customer experience programs. This time, 300 consumers and 60 dealers were questioned.