The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) is the leading trade association representing franchised car and commercial vehicle dealers in the United Kingdom (UK). As the largest employer in the automotive sector, retail accounts for approximately 600,000 jobs in the broader automotive workforce. Dealership staff operate in over 4,500 franchised outlets across the UK, serving as the industry’s customer-facing frontline responsible for selling, servicing and repairing vehicles. NFDA’s Dealer Attitude Survey (DAS) is a biannual survey examining the relationship between franchised dealerships and manufacturers throughout the UK. The DAS continues to serve as a critical barometer in understanding the complex relationship between franchised dealerships and their respective manufacturers. It has been running since 1989 and presents the most comprehensive overview of dealer sentiments and perspectives on manufacturers that the sector has to offer. The Winter 2026 edition of the survey was carried out over six weeks. In this edition, the survey garnered responses from 2,511 sites across 34 franchised networks, equating to a response rate of 64.67%. Key points from the survey and the text in full can be found below. Key Points: The highest overall manufacturer rating for Winter 2026 is Lexus, managing to beat Mercedes-Benz (9.2) and Kia (9.1), and securing 1st place in the survey with 9.3 points. The lowest overall manufacturer rating is Seat, scoring 3.4 out of 10 and declining further since the last survey. The all-dealer average returned a score of 6.9 out of 10, an increase of +0.3 points since the last survey. Citroen and Land Rover saw the biggest improvement in ratings, with an increase of +1.7 points. Nissan recorded the largest drop in rating, decreasing by -1.95 points. A newly introduced question on dealers’ ability to meet manufacturer new EV car targets in current market conditions finished in the bottom 5 scoring questions. Sue Robinson, Chief Executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), commented: “ The Winter 2026 Dealer Attitude Survey shows a general positive turnaround in dealer sentiment, with the majority of metrics showing a marked improvement over the scores compiled in the Summer 2025 edition. The national average manufacturer rating increased by +0.3 points to 6.9 out of 10, showing a stabilizing trend across the network. “It is encouraging to note that vehicle supply metrics improved by +8.3%, leading to significant increases in dealer satisfaction regarding new car volume targets. However, dealers continue to express concerns regarding profitability. Dealership return on capital, financial support from manufacturers, and current profit returns remain among the lowest scoring questions in the survey. “Furthermore, our new metric evaluating dealer confidence in meeting electric vehicle targets highlights significant network anxiety under current market conditions. While some pure-play or advanced electric line-ups scored highly, the pace of current volume targets remains a friction point across many established networks. NFDA will continue to work closely with manufacturers to address these operational and profitability challenges. ” Highlights: Overall Manufacturer Rating The tracking question “Q12: How would you rate your manufacturer overall on a scale of 1-10?” returned an overall network score of 6.9 out of 10. This represents an increase of +0.3 points since the last survey, reversing the downward trends seen in previous editions. Lexus scored the highest overall rating at 9.3 points, retaining 1st place in the survey. Mercedes-Benz followed in 2nd place with 9.2 points, and Kia took 3rd place with 9.1 points. New survey entrants and rising brands scored strongly inside the top ten, including Omoda (8.8), Leapmotor (8.7), Land Rover (8.7), and Suzuki (8.5). At the lower end, Seat recorded the lowest overall rating at 3.4 points, trailing other bottom scoring brands including Audi (4.2), Nissan (4.3), and Abarth (4.4). Biggest Overall Movers and Shakers Citroen and Land Rover saw the largest positive rating shifts, with both brands registering an increase of +1.7 points over their Summer 2025 scores. Notable improvements were also recorded by MINI (+1.2), Skoda (+1.2), and Mercedes-Benz (+1.0). The sharpest declines were observed at Nissan, which fell by -1.95 points (dropping 12 places to 32nd overall), Ford (-1.47), and BYD (-0.93, sliding 12 places to 15th overall). New Car Sales Targets and Supply Stabilization Dealers reported a major improvement regarding the realism of volume targets. Satisfaction for “Q5c: Your ability to meet your manufacturer’s new car targets in the current market conditions” increased to a national average score of 6.5 out of 10, up from 5.9 in Summer 2025. This improvement was driven by strong network gains, including Citroen (+82%), MINI (+52%), and Volvo (+47%). Across the industry, scores for Manufacturer new vehicle supply increased by +8.3%, Realistic volume target aspirations rose by +7.5%, and the New car targeting process gained +7.2%. Profit Return and Capital Performance Despite operational improvements, franchise profitability indicators continue to rank at the bottom of the survey. Return on capital for the dealership, current profit returns, and future profit returns all placed in the bottom 5 questions across the industry. However, minor baseline recoveries occurred compared to the prior survey, with dealer sentiment rising by +4.4% for future profit returns and +4.0% for current profit metrics. Electric Vehicles and Targeting Friction A new question was introduced for this survey edition: “Q5d: Your ability to meet your manufacturer’s new EV car targets in the current market conditions.” The question scored a national average of 6.3 out of 10, with 48% of all participating dealers returning confidence scores between 1 and 6, highlighting clear network concern. Brand specific scores varied significantly based on model line-ups. New entrants and advanced EV brands scored highly, led by Leapmotor with 9.7 out of 10, Mercedes-Benz at 8.8, Omoda at 8.7, and Honda at 8.1. Conversely, networks facing high volume targets or product deployment constraints reported strain, ending with Seat at 4.3, Audi at 4.1, and Ford at 4.0 out of 10. After Sales and Service Earnings Growth After Sales metrics showed steady, stable improvements across nearly all variables compared to Summer 2025. Aftersales targeting processes (Q7a) advanced to a 7.0 national average (up from 6.6), while technical support quality (Q7b) settled at 6.8. Service profitability earnings (Q7e) moved to a 6.9 average score. Individual network improvements for question 7e were led by a +29% spike at BYD, alongside increases at Renault (+25%), Land Rover (+20%), and Mercedes-Benz (+19%). Lexus posted the highest individual score on service earnings at 9.3 out of 10. Dealer Attitude Survey – WINTER 2026 MAIN REPORT: https://www.nfda-uk.co.uk/downloads/dealer-attitude-download/NFDA-Winter-Dealer-Attitude-Survey-v2.pdf For further info please contact ryan.child@rmif.co.uk