In the past, when you thought of iconic British carmakers you thought of Bentley, Jaguar and Rolls Royce. Times have changed; now you should be thinking Honda, Nissan and Toyota.
The truth of the matter is, most of the car manufacturers we’ve historically associated as being British flagships are now owned by foreign companies.
Bentley is a sub-brand of the German VW Group, Jaguar and Land Rover is owned by Indian firm Tata Motors and Rolls Royce cars are overseen by BMW.
But while Jaguars and Land Rovers are still assembled in the UK, there are very few car marques of British origins that are built in this country anymore.
British-built cars might surprise you
That doesn’t mean you can’t buy a British-built car, though. In fact, there are numerous volume-selling models that are put together on British soil, but they’re not names you’d necessarily expect to hear. You can find out which cars rated in our top 10.
A large proportion of the cars built in the UK are in fact Japanese branded.
Honda’s widely sold Jazz supermini, Civic hatchback and CR-V SUV are all built in the Swindon plant in Wiltshere.
Nissan’s Juke and Qashqai compact-SUV pairing, as well as the new Note supermini, are constructed in Sunderland.
Assembled in Tyneside rather than Tokyo
And Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire churns out Auris and Avensis models.
All of these cars are significant sellers in the UK, but not all owners are aware they’re driving models that have been pieced together near Tyneside rather than Tokyo.
Mini, a brand synonymous with being British, is now owned by BMW, but just two cars in the range, the Countryman and Paceman, are built outside of the UK. With the majority of the model line-up manufactured in Oxford, arguably, the Mini is still a very British car.
But how important is a car being built in this country to you? And would knowing a car has been built in the UK have an impact on your purchasing decision?
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