{"id":36408,"date":"2026-10-06T12:33:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/?page_id=36408"},"modified":"2026-10-06T12:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:33:51","slug":"genuine-brand-awareness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/lobservatoire-cetelem-de-lautomobile\/observatoire-automotive-2027-country-or-price-motorists-have-made-their-choice\/genuine-brand-awareness","title":{"rendered":"Genuine brand awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Against a backdrop of particularly intense market consolidation in recent years, with well-known legacy brands subsumed into groups whose ownership is harder to pinpoint, where do consumers stand? Are brands known, recognised and properly identified? Do they represent a bedrock of trust that drivers can and want to rely on when making a purchase? Is local or regional \u201cmade in\u201d status a genuine selling point? The latest Observatoire Cetelem reveals that banking on brand nationality remains a compelling argument, particularly among younger buyers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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NATIONAL BRAND: BORN AND BUILT CLOSE TO HOME<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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When examining the impact of a brand\u2019s nationality, one must first determine what drivers actually understand by the label. So, what exactly is a \u201cnational brand\u201c? While consumers struggle to pick a single defining attribute, they nevertheless draw a clear distinction. A brand\u2019s nationality is not defined by who owns it. Only 15% of respondents take that view.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Instead, nationality is rooted primarily in production (34%) and history (33%), two factors that bestow a concrete, tangible identity. You are where you are born, where you live and where you work. One can also infer that drivers pay little mind (for now, at least) to the financial alliances reshaping the automotive landscape; given the choice between capital and labour, their stance is clear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n Fig. 15 \u2013 How do you define the nationality of a brand? (% of respondents)\n <\/p>\n \n \n Download this infographic for your presentations\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"Definition\n \n Horizontal bar chart showing how respondents define the nationality of a car brand. All countries total, all respondents, in percent. Source: Observatoire Cetelem de l’automobile 2027.\n\u2022 The country in which the cars are manufactured and assembled: 34\n\u2022 The brand’s country of origin (the country in which the brand was created): 33\n\u2022 The country of the company that owns the brand: 15\n\u2022 You don’t know: 12\n\u2022 The geographical region (Europe, Asia, etc.): 6\nKey takeaways: place of manufacture and country of origin are cited almost equally and together account for 67% of responses. About one respondent in eight cannot say how a brand’s nationality is defined.\n <\/span>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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TRADITIONAL BRANDS MORE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Observatoire Cetelem sought to refine its analysis of consumer perceptions. Given that the origins of major share- holder groups do not always match those of their constituent brands, do drivers actually know a brand\u2019s current nationality, and have they grasped any recent changes in ownership structure? Is Volvo still Swedish, Opel German, Jaguar British?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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And what of newer entrants such as VinFast? The findings show that legacy European brands are the most accurately identified by nationality, led by the flagships of the German automotive industry. Respondents over the age of 50 demonstrate greater acuity than younger generations. In every country surveyed, respondents occasionally mis- attribute the origins of domestic brands, though \u201conly\u201d 73% of Chinese consumers know BYD is Chinese, and 79% of Americans recognise Ford as American-made. Notably, American consumers show a broader tendency to overestimate the likelihood that any given brand originates from the US.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n Fig. 16 \u2013 Perceived nationality of 16 car brands (% of most cited response)\n <\/p>\n \n \n Download this infographic for your presentations\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"Perceived\n \n Table showing, for 16 brands, the most frequently cited nationality (“Top response”) and its percentage. It is laid out as two blocks of three columns: brand, top response, %. All respondents, in percent. Source: Observatoire Cetelem de l’automobile 2027.\nFirst block:\n\u2022 BYD: Chinese, 48%\n\u2022 Chrysler: American, 54%\n\u2022 Ferrari: Italian, 65%\n\u2022 Ford: American, 54%\n\u2022 Hyundai: South Korean, 43%\n\u2022 Jaguar: British, 43%\n\u2022 Mercedes-Benz: German, 70%\n\u2022 MG Motor: British, 26%\nSecond block:\n\u2022 Mini: British, 39%\n\u2022 Opel: German, 52%\n\u2022 Renault: French, 68%\n\u2022 Skoda: Czech, 35%\n\u2022 Toyota: Japanese, 64%\n\u2022 VinFast: Vietnamese, 19%\n\u2022 Volkswagen: German, 74%\n\u2022 Volvo: Swedish, 44%\nKey takeaways: the table gives the most frequent answer, not necessarily the brand’s actual nationality. The most clearly identified brands are Volkswagen (74%), Mercedes-Benz (70%) and Renault (68%); the least are VinFast (19%) and MG Motor (26%).\n <\/span>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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PROTECTED DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Even so, 8 in 10 drivers claim to know the nationality of their vehicle\u2019s brand. Indeed, variations between countries are narrow. The best-informed respondents are found in Japan, Italy and Germany, whereas knowledge is somewhat more patchy in Portugal and the Netherlands. These geographical divides echo patterns observed earlier. Socio-economic distinctions are relatively marked, with men, high earners, those aged over 50 and city dwellers showing the highest levels of awareness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n Fig. 17 \u2013 Do you know the nationality of your vehicle’s brand? “yes” response (% of households with at least one car)\n <\/p>\n \n \n Download this infographic for your presentations\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"Share\n \n Vertical bar chart showing the share of “Yes” answers to the question “Do you know the nationality of your vehicle’s brand?”, among respondents with at least one car in the household, in percent. The “Europe” bar (81) and the “Total” bar (81) are distinguished from the country bars. Source: Observatoire Cetelem de l’automobile 2027.\n\u2022 Germany: 86\n\u2022 Belgium: 77\n\u2022 China: 82\n\u2022 Spain: 81\n\u2022 United States: 75\n\u2022 France: 83\n\u2022 Italy: 89\n\u2022 Japan: 93\n\u2022 Netherlands: 76\n\u2022 Poland: 80\n\u2022 Portugal: 81\n\u2022 United Kingdom: 74\n\u2022 Turkey: 77\n\u2022 Europe: 81\n\u2022 Total: 81\nKey takeaways: awareness of brand nationality is high everywhere (74 to 93%). Japan (93%) and Italy (89%) lead; the United Kingdom (74%) and the United States (75%) are lowest.\n <\/span>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n Fig. 18 \u2013 Birth records: founding, countries of origin and group of 10 automotive brands\n <\/p>\n \n \n Download this infographic for your presentations\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"Table\n \n Table with five columns: brand, founded, country of origin, group, group nationality. It has ten rows. Source: manufacturer websites.\n1. Audi \u2013 1909, Germany, Volkswagen Group, German\n2. BMW \u2013 1916, Germany, BMW Group, German\n3. BYD \u2013 1994, China, BYD, Chinese\n4. Fiat \u2013 1899, Italy, Stellantis, Franco\u2013Italian\u2013American\n5. Ford \u2013 1903, United States, Ford, American\n6. Mercedes-Benz \u2013 1926, Germany, Mercedes-Benz AG, German\n7. Peugeot \u2013 1896, France, Stellantis, Franco\u2013Italian\u2013American\n8. Renault \u2013 1898, France, Renault Group, French\n9. Toyota \u2013 1937, Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japanese\n10.Volkswagen \u2013 1937, Germany, Volkswagen Group, German\nKey takeaways: Peugeot (1896) is the oldest brand in the table and BYD (1994) the most recent. Fiat and Peugeot belong to Stellantis, whose nationality is given as Franco\u2013Italian\u2013American. For the other brands, the group’s nationality matches the country of origin, with one exception noted below.\n <\/span>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Against a backdrop of particularly intense market consolidation in recent years, with well-known legacy brands subsumed into groups whose ownership is harder to pinpoint, where do consumers stand? Are brands known, recognised and properly identified? Do they represent a bedrock of trust that drivers can and want to rely on when making a purchase? Is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1945,"featured_media":0,"parent":36450,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"t-etude-chapitre.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36408","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36409,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36408\/revisions\/36409"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}