06:19 19-11-2025

Global car survey 2025: German brands lead on quality, Japanese on value

German automakers remain synonymous with quality worldwide — that’s the message from a fresh YouGov survey conducted in autumn 2025 across 16 countries. An analysis by SPEEDME.RU shows that 73% of respondents consider German brands the most reliable, linking them to engineering precision and long service life. Trust is especially strong in Europe: Denmark 80%, Italy 79%, the United Kingdom 77%, and France 76%. In Germany itself, 74% of participants affirm the quality of their homegrown marques.

Shift to value for money and the picture changes. Japanese companies lead this category with the confidence of 53% of those polled, while German brands gather just 45%. In Germany the gap is wider: 43% see Japanese models as the better deal, and only 24% are ready to call domestic cars a sensible buy. It neatly shows how price can outweigh prestige when decisions get practical.

Chinese brands are moving with clear momentum. Attractive pricing is noted by 41% of Germans, and a quarter already point to decent quality. At the same time, 39% are not ready to judge — there’s simply not enough experience with these cars, and that hesitation stems from limited exposure.

At the other end sit India, Mexico, and Brazil: their brands face low awareness and distrust, which translates into weak scores across all parameters.

The study surveyed 17,500 adults aged 18 and over and underscores a slow-moving truth of the car market: brand image evolves gradually, even as new players grow more assertive in challenging the traditional leaders.