EST. 1910
IT · ITALY
Alfa Romeo
Passion, beautiful design and great engines
"You are not a true petrolhead until you have owned an Alfa."
VW Group
- VOLKSWAGEN
- AUDI
- SKODA
- SEAT / CUPRA
- PORSCHE
- BENTLEY
- LAMBORGHINI
05 / Brands
Who makes what,
and what they're known for.
Forty brands you will see on UK roads, from the cheapest new car to the most expensive. Filter by country, then scroll down to see which companies secretly share the same parts.
01
The brand directory
Price tier runs from ● budget to ●●●●● supercar or luxury. "Est." is when the company or its first car began.
EST. 1913
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Aston Martin
James Bond's car of choice
Hand-built luxury GTs.
EST. 1909
DE · GERMANY
Audi
Quattro all-wheel drive, tech and beautiful interiors
The four rings stand for four companies that merged in 1932.
EST. 1919
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Bentley
Fast luxury, hand-made in Crewe
Shares engineering with Audi and Porsche.
EST. 1916
DE · GERMANY
BMW
Driving pleasure and rear-wheel-drive handling
Started out making aircraft engines. "M" means its in-house performance division.
EST. 1995
CN · CHINA
BYD
Batteries, and one of the world's biggest EV makers
Started as a battery company. Name stands for "Build Your Dreams".
EST. 1919
FR · FRANCE
Citroën
Comfort-first and quirky design
Pioneered soft "magic carpet" suspension.
EST. 1966
RO · ROMANIA
Dacia
The cheapest new cars on sale
Uses proven Renault parts to keep prices low.
EST. 1947
IT · ITALY
Ferrari
The prancing horse, red paint and F1
Every model is a status symbol. Many are sold only to existing customers.
EST. 1899
IT · ITALY
Fiat
Small, stylish city cars
The 500 is one of the most recognisable shapes in motoring.
EST. 1903
US · USA
Ford
Cars for the masses, vans, and the Mustang
The Fiesta and Focus ruled UK roads for decades but have now ended production.
EST. 1948
JP · JAPAN
Honda
Clever engineering and engines (VTEC)
Also builds motorbikes, jets and lawnmowers. A big name in F1.
EST. 1967
KR · SOUTH KOREA
Hyundai
Great value and long warranties, now design-led EVs
Went from budget brand to award-winner in about 15 years.
EST. 1922
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Jaguar
British sports saloons and the E-Type
Paused its old line-up to relaunch as an all-electric luxury brand.
EST. 1941
US · USA
Jeep
Rugged off-roaders born in World War II
The Avenger is designed for Europe and sold in the UK.
EST. 1944
KR · SOUTH KOREA
Kia
The famous 7-year warranty
Shares a lot underneath with Hyundai.
EST. 1963
IT · ITALY
Lamborghini
Wild wedge-shaped supercars
Started by a tractor maker who fell out with Ferrari.
EST. 1948
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Land Rover
Proper off-roaders and luxury SUVs
Range Rover is now its own luxury sub-brand. Reliability is a running joke.
EST. 1989
JP · JAPAN
Lexus
Toyota's luxury brand: quiet, smooth, ultra-reliable
Regularly tops UK reliability surveys.
EST. 1948
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Lotus
Lightweight handling: "simplify, then add lightness"
Now Chinese-owned and building electric SUVs.
EST. 1920
JP · JAPAN
Mazda
Driver-focused, beautifully made cars
The MX-5 is the best-selling two-seat sports car ever.
EST. 1963
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
McLaren
Formula 1 and carbon-fibre supercars
The 1990s McLaren F1 was the world's fastest car.
EST. 1886
DE · GERMANY
Mercedes-Benz
Luxury, comfort and safety firsts
Karl Benz built the first petrol car. AMG is the fast division.
EST. 1924
GB→CN · UK → CHINA
MG
Once British roadsters, now affordable EVs
The badge is British; the company is Chinese-owned.
EST. 1959
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Mini
Go-kart handling and retro style
The original 1959 Mini changed small-car design forever. Now BMW-owned and built in Oxford.
EST. 1933
JP · JAPAN
Nissan
Inventing the crossover, and early EVs
The Qashqai is built in Sunderland, the UK's biggest car factory.
EST. 1810
FR · FRANCE
Peugeot
Stylish French family cars with a lion badge
Started out making pepper grinders and bicycles.
EST. 2017
SE→CN · SWEDEN → CHINA
Polestar
Minimalist Scandinavian EVs
Started as Volvo's tuning arm.
EST. 1931
DE · GERMANY
Porsche
The 911 sports car, with its engine behind the rear axle
SUVs like the Cayenne actually pay for the sports cars.
EST. 1899
FR · FRANCE
Renault
Small cars, EVs and F1 (as Alpine)
The Clio is one of Europe's best-selling cars ever.
EST. 1906
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Rolls-Royce
The ultimate luxury car
Built at Goodwood. Umbrellas hide in the doors.
EST. 1950
ES · SPAIN
SEAT / Cupra
Sporty-looking VWs with Spanish flair
Cupra became its own performance brand in 2018.
EST. 1895
CZ · CZECHIA
Skoda
"Simply Clever" practical cars, great value
Went from a joke in the 1980s to one of the most respected brands. Umbrellas in the doors.
EST. 1953
JP · JAPAN
Subaru
Boxer engines and all-wheel drive as standard
Blue and gold rally Imprezas were icons of the 1990s.
EST. 1909
JP · JAPAN
Suzuki
Small, light, cheap and cheerful
Started out making weaving looms. The tiny Jimny has a cult following.
EST. 2003
US · USA
Tesla
Made EVs cool. Software, Supercharger network
Updates its cars over the internet like a phone.
EST. 1937
JP · JAPAN
Toyota
Bulletproof reliability and pioneering hybrids
One of the world's largest car makers by volume. The Hilux is famous for being nearly indestructible.
EST. 1903
GB · UNITED KINGDOM
Vauxhall
Affordable everyday British-badged cars
Sold as Opel everywhere else in Europe. Corsa has been a UK best-seller.
EST. 1937
DE · GERMANY
Volkswagen
The "people's car". Solid, sensible, classless
The Golf GTI invented the "hot hatch" in 1976.
EST. 1927
SE · SWEDEN
Volvo
Safety above everything
Invented the three-point seatbelt in 1959 and gave the patent away for free.
LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR OWNERS, SHOWN ONLY TO IDENTIFY EACH BRAND. BRANDS WITHOUT A FREELY AVAILABLE MARK USE A MONOGRAM.
02
Same car, different badge
Most brands belong to a handful of giant groups that share engines, platforms and switches. A Skoda Octavia, VW Golf, SEAT Leon and Audi A3 are close relatives underneath. This is called "platform sharing", and when it's very obvious, "badge engineering".
01 · GERMANY
02 · NETHERLANDS / FRANCE / ITALY / US
Stellantis
- PEUGEOT
- CITROËN
- DS
- VAUXHALL / OPEL
- FIAT
- ALFA ROMEO
- JEEP
- MASERATI
03 · GERMANY
BMW Group
- BMW
- MINI
- ROLLS-ROYCE
04 · FRANCE
Renault Group
- RENAULT
- DACIA
- ALPINE
05 · SOUTH KOREA
Hyundai Motor Group
- HYUNDAI
- KIA
- GENESIS
06 · JAPAN
Toyota Group
- TOYOTA
- LEXUS
07 · CHINA
Geely
- VOLVO
- POLESTAR
- LOTUS
- LYNK & CO
- ZEEKR
- SMART (50%)
08 · INDIA / UK
Tata Motors / JLR
- JAGUAR
- LAND ROVER
- RANGE ROVER
- DEFENDER
03
Signature engine & motor layouts, plus boot-lid badges
Why Porsche and Subaru use flat "boxer" engines, why BMW is famous for straight-sixes, and what the letters on the boot lid actually mean.
GTI / GT / ST / Type RSporty performance version of a normal carRS / M / AMG / NTop performance divisions of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and HyundaiTDI / dCi / CDI / HDi / dDiesel (e.g. BMW 320d)TSI / TFSI / EcoBoost / PureTech / TCeTurbocharged petrole / e-Hybrid / PHEV / RechargePlug-in hybridquattro / xDrive / 4MATIC / 4Motion / AWDAll-wheel driveDSG / S tronic / CVT / EDC / AutoAutomatic gearboxSE / Sport / Titanium / M Sport / S lineTrim levels: how much kit and how sporty it looks320 in "BMW 320i"3 Series; the "20" roughly suggests a 2.0-litre-class engineA, C, E, S in MercedesSize classes from small (A) to flagship (S)04
National character, roughly
Huge generalisations, but they help you guess what a brand will feel like.
DE
German
Engineering, solid build, premium image and autobahn-ready motorway manners. Often expensive options lists.
JP
Japanese
Reliability first. Hybrids, clever packaging, and cars that just keep going.
KR
Korean
Value, long warranties, lots of tech for the money, and some of the best EVs around.
FR
French
Comfort, style and practicality, with a reputation (partly outdated) for electrical gremlins.
IT
Italian
Design and emotion, from tiny Fiats to Ferraris. Cars you buy with your heart.
GB
British
Luxury, sports cars and off-roaders. Almost all British brands are now foreign-owned but many are still built here.
US
American
Big engines and pickups at home. In the UK, mainly Ford, Tesla and Jeep.
SE
Swedish
Safety, minimalist design, and estate cars built for dogs and flat-pack furniture.
CN
Chinese
The fastest-growing group in the UK: BYD, MG, Omoda, Jaecoo and more, with affordable, high-tech EVs and hybrids.