British marques top list of dream cars for Britons

Almost three quarters of UK consumers would buy British if given a £100,000 budget to spend on a new car, according to new research from online insurance company swiftcover.com.

Sweeping aside their German and Italian rivals, British marques emerge as unanimous favourites amongst UK car buyers, with 69 per cent claiming they would opt for a British brand if they had the money to do so.

Topping the ‘Dream Car’ list with almost a quarter of the votes is Aston Martin (24%), followed by Range Rover (19%), Bentley (16%) and Rolls Royce (10%). German and Italian luxury marques faired badly by comparison – with just one per cent opting for a Lamborghini, 9 per cent for a Ferrari, 9 per cent for a Porsche and 2 per cent for a Maserati.

The top ten swiftcover.com “Dream Cars” for 2008 are:

1. Aston Martin 24%
2. Range Rover 19%
3. Bentley 16%
4. Rolls Royce 10%
5. Porsche 9%
5. Ferrari 9%
7. BMW 6%
8. Mercedes 4%
9. Maserati 2%
10. Lamborghini 1%

The research was carried out to mark the launch of a new online competition from the insurer, in which a prize of £100,000 is instantly up for grabs. Free to enter, the competition can be found here: swiftlydoesit.com/win-a-swift-100000-right-now.

The swiftcover.com research also looked at the favoured rides of celebrities and the ultra-rich, finding that the BMW X5 is the most popular among footballers; while Hollywood actors are opting for the highly-exclusive £750,000 Bugatti Veyron.

Footballer’s favourite: BMW X5 (Wayne Rooney)

Entrepreneur’s favourite: Porsche 911 Convertible (Bill Gates)

Rap star’s favourite: Rolls-Royce Phantom (50 Cents)

Hollywood actor’s favourite: Bugatti Veyron (Tom Cruise)

Hollywood actress’ favourite: Mercedes SL (Lindsay Lohan)

Tina Shortle of swiftcover.com commented, “Regardless of a wide choice of luxury cars from around the world, British consumers are loyal to British car brands. For most of us, having a £100,000 car is only a fantasy, but we are hoping that at least one lucky winner gets to realise their dream by participating in our innovative new competition.”