Chinese car brands dominate new Customer Experience Index

• Omoda retailers lead the entire market
• Chery, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, GWM, Changan, Geely and BYD also in the top ten
• 54 car makers’ retailers rated by customer sentiment
• Only one premium brand – Lexus – makes it into the overall top ten

The latest Carblah Index has revealed a dramatic shift in the UK’s automotive landscape, showing how much UK consumers are loving the experience of buying a new Chinese-brand car.

The Carblah Customer Experience Index – which analyses and aggregates real customer sentiment from almost a quarter of a million customer reviews across sales, service and ownership touchpoints – shows that the value‑driven, emerging brands are now setting the benchmark for customer satisfaction. Customer experience from 54 car brands’ retailers have been included in the index.

Top of the pile is Omoda, followed by its sister brands Chery and Jaecoo, with Leapmotor and GWM also making it into the top five. Lexus is the highest‑performing of the premium brands, while Rolls-Royce tops the luxury and performance sector.

The premium brand category** shows the widest performance spread of any segment. Lexus stands out as the only premium brand to break into the overall top ten, outperforming all other premium competitors by a significant margin. Many well‑known premium marques sit behind several mainstream brands and far behind the new challengers – the bottom five premium brands score lower than the lowest‑performing mainstream brand. This signals a structural inversion of the traditional hierarchy, suggesting that customer expectations are evolving faster than some established brands are adapting.

In the mainstream brand category* established car makers show a tight, competitive cluster of scores, led by Dacia, Abarth, Cupra, Renault and Hyundai. While consistency is strong, no mainstream brand reaches the performance levels now being achieved by many of the new Chinese brands.

In the luxury and performance category*** brands continue to deliver the high‑touch, high‑consistency experience expected of the segment, with Rolls-Royce leading the group.

Insight from this latest Carblah Index shows a huge shift in customer expectations, highlighting a fundamental change in the market:

• Customers no longer equate price with experience
• New entrants are winning on clarity, simplicity and consistency
• Premium brands are being judged more harshly against rising expectations
• Mainstream brands are stable but no longer aspirational
• Customer experience is delivered by retailers, not OEMs – and some OEMs will be disappointed in the networks representing them.

This shift is reshaping the competitive landscape and accelerating pressure on established OEMs to modernise their retail and aftersales experience.

Steve Fowler, journalist and Carblah co-founder said, “What this Index shows is simple: customers reward brands that treat them well. Challenger and value‑driven brands are winning because they make things clear, fair and easy – and that’s what people want. When new entrants outperform long‑established premium names, it’s a sign that the market is finally listening to consumers rather than relying on reputation.”

Michael Yeates, Managing Director & Co-Founder of Carblah, said, “The data is unambiguous: customer experience drives trust and trust drives margin. The brands that simplify the journey and remove friction are the ones outperforming the market. Customer experience is delivered by retailers, not OEMs – and some OEMs will be disappointed in the networks representing them. The strongest performers in this Index are proving that when customers trust you, they don’t just stay with you, they spend more with you.”

* Carblah Mainstream Brand Customer Experience Index

1. Omoda
2. Chery
3. Jaecoo
4. Leapmotor
5. GWM
6. Changan
7. Dacia
8. Geely
9. BYD
10. MG
11. Abarth
12. Cupra
13. Renault
14. Hyundai
15. Toyota
16. Peugeot
17. Kia
18. Mazda
19. Seat
20. Skoda
21. Citroen
22. Suzuki
23. Vauxhall
24. Honda
25. Fiat
26. Nissan
27. Subaru
28. Jeep
29. Smart
30. MINI
31. Ford
32. Volkswagen

** Carblah Premium Brand Customer Experience Index

1. Lexus
2. Alpine
3. Genesis
4. Alfa Romeo
5. Polestar
6. Volvo
7. DS
8. Land Rover
9. Mercedes-Benz
10. Jaguar
11. BMW
12. Audi

*** Carblah Luxury and Performance Brand Customer Experience Index

1. Rolls-Royce
2. Aston Martin
3. Ferrari
4. Lotus
5. Maserati
6. Lamborghini
7. Bentley
8. McLaren
9. Porsche
10. Ineos