Which cars do Brits and Americans want that they can’t have?

In the UK, there are hundreds of different cars to choose from, yet there are some, like the USA’s monstrous Cadillac Escalade or RAM 1500 pickup truck, that we can’t get our hands on. Why is that?

There are several reasons for this. For example, the UK and USA have different emission laws and there are also different safety regulations, but the main difference is the complication of converting a right-hand-drive car into a left-hand-drive car, or vice versa.

In fact, in May this year, Tesla announced it was stopping the production of right-hand-drive versions of the Model S and Model X, meaning they're no longer available to order in the UK. That is unless you want a left-hand-drive version, at which point Tesla will be happy to send it to you.

The subject matter got us thinking: which of the cars that Brits don’t have, that Americans do have, are the most wanted, and which cars are we able to drive that Americans would like to get behind the wheel of?

To do this we used SEO analysis tools to figure out what the current search volumes are for everyday cars and brands available to British drivers that Americans cannot buy without importing, and vice versa. The brands covered are ones that are not available in the other country, for example, Citroen does not sell cars in the USA and Buick does not sell cars in the UK.

Key findings:

• Americans search for the Skoda Octavia the most with 6,700 monthly searches
• Brits rank the Chevrolet Camaro at the top of their US wishlist with 6,200 monthly searches
• Peugeot is the top brand Americans search for with 37,000 monthly searches of the brand name alone and 26,600 for its range
• Chevrolet’s range is favoured by UK drivers with a total of 24,910 Google searches

American cars British motorists want the most

Brits rank the Chevrolet Camaro as their most wanted American motor with 6,200 searches per month

We have uncovered that the car British drivers want to get behind the wheel of the most is the Chevrolet Camaro, an American muscle icon.

Chevy cars were once available to buy in the UK but they ended up competing with themselves as parent company General Motors was also pushing Vauxhall/Opel in Europe. The cars were pitched to the same audience and so GM decided the right move was to pull Chevrolet from the market to let Vauxhall blossom. Despite this, it seems UK drivers miss the sight and sound of the five-second 0-60 machine roaring around our roads.

Our data shows that Brits search for the Camaro an average of 6,200 times per month, which is 300 times more than they search for other iconic US cars, such as the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, which came in second place with 5,900 monthly searches and 1,400 times more than the Cadillac Escalade that rounds out the top three.

Chevrolet’s range ranked the best by Brits

If you add up all the individual models’ search volumes for the different brands, Chevrolet takes the top spot again, with its range’s combined search volume totalling 24,910 searches per month. This saw the Detroit-based manufacturer gain a clear lead over the rest of the field, receiving 17,210 more searches per month than Chrysler, who took second place with 7,700 searches per month, and 18,090 more searches than Cadillac who were third on a total of 6,820 monthly searches from British drivers.

Manufacturer ranges ranked by total search volume

Make	UK Search Volume
Chevrolet	24910
Chrysler	7700
Cadillac	6820
GMC	3730
RAM	3350
Lincoln	2000
Buick	500

 

 

Import costs for top 10 cars on Brits’ wishlists

If you do want to get behind the wheel of one of the favourite US cars, it’ll cost, with import fees averaging £4,127.75.

US Imports to the UK ranked by the most expensive

Make	Model	Import Cost (£)
Chevrolet	Camaro	4,596.80
Cadillac	Escalade	4,389.11
Chevrolet	Corvette Z06	4,250.15
GMC	Yukon	4,201.95
Chevrolet	Suburban	4,200.35
Chevrolet	Tahoe	4,176.35
RAM	1500	4,045.99
Chevrolet	Corvette Stingray	3,958.75
Chrysler	Pacifica	3,740.91
Chrysler	300	3,717.11
Average cost to import from USA		4,127.75

British cars that Americans want the most

Skoda Octavia tops American wishlists with 6,700 Google searches a month

Across the Atlantic, it appears that Americans have an affection for the Skoda Octavia. According to our research, the Octavia – Skoda’s bestselling model last year with 141,100 worldwide sales – was the most searched-for car available to British drivers that’s not available across the pond. The Octavia has won WhatCar? Best Practicality Family Car two years in a row and also Best Hybrid Estate last year, too, so you could argue Americans have good taste. That being said, U.S. laws stipulate that overseas vehicles are only available for import after they hit twenty five years old - so they’re likely to wait a while before they get their hands on a 2023 model.

The data shows that the Skoda Octavia has an average of 6,700 monthly searches by Americans, which is 900 more searches per month than the car second on their wishlist, the Renault Clio, which receives 5,800 monthly searches.

Rounding off the top three was the Peugeot 3008, with 5,500 monthly searches and it’s not the only good result for Peugeot either…

First place for Peugeot as they top US drivers’ favourite brands’ list with 37,000 searches

Not only did the Peugeot 3008 make the top three of Americans’ car wishlists, but three of the brand’s other cars also featured in the top ten. Just outside the top three in fourth and fifth are the 208 and 2008, which receive 5,300 and 4,600 monthly searches respectively, while the Peugeot 308 is ninth with 3,700 monthly searches.

Peugeot also is the most popular car brand for Americans, too. The term ‘Peugeot’ has a search volume of 37,000, which is 13,000 more searches per month than the brand in second place, Renault, receiving 24,000 searches.

Also, if you combine all the individual cars’ search volumes up by brand, Peugeot comes out on top yet again, scoring a combined total of 26,600 monthly searches for the range, beating Skoda’s range in second place with 19,370 searches. Renault came third with 15,650 monthly searches.

Similar to Chevrolet in the UK, Peugeot vehicles were once available to purchase in the US. In fact, they reportedly had around a dozen cars on the market in the late ‘60s. However, they pulled out in 1991 due to poor sales figures and being unable to adapt to the intricacies of the American market.

Having said that, some reports are saying that Peugeot could be making a comeback in the US, but not until 2026. If our data is anything to go by, it looks like Americans would welcome the French manufacturer’s return.

Import costs for top 10 cars on American wishlists

If you are in the USA and want to import one of the cars from the top 10, it’ll actually cost less than it would for Brits to import from the USA. On average it’ll cost an American around £2,103.68 ($2,724.67) compared to £4,127.75 ($5,346.22) Brits would need to pay.

UK imports to the US ranked by the most expensive

Make	Model	Import Cost ($)
Dacia	Duster	2,880.70
Peugeot	3008	2,843.85
Peugeot	308	2,783.17
Peugeot	2008	2,732.89
Renault	Captur	2,713.23
Citroen	C3	2,690.17
Renault	Clio	2,690.04
Skoda	Octavia	2,689.23
Peugeot	208	2,688.75
Citroen	Ami	2,534.62
Average cost to import from UK		2,724.67

Leasing with Leasing Options

Get behind the wheel of the cars Americans wish they could with our huge range of car leasing deals. We won’t be beaten on price for whichever car you opt for, thanks to Leasing Options’ Price Match Promise, so you can be sure there’s no better deal elsewhere. As always, if you need any assistance, our team is always on hand to answer any questions you may have.

Methodology

Our research involved using SEO analysis tools Ahrefs to find the search volumes (average monthly searches) for cars available to British drivers but not Americans, and vice versa. The keywords analysed were the terms that most resembled the model name. However, on occasion, some keywords ranked higher than the official name of the models. For example, if “Mercedes-Benz C-Class” was analysed and “Mercedes C Class” was the highest term searched for, that term would be used instead.

The cars we analysed were also ‘everyday’ cars, meaning no supercars were included in the dataset. Any brands currently available in both territories were also not included as the search volume results would be skewed.

Cars included were brands and models available on American new car purchasing sites, such as AutoTrader.com that did not feature on similar UK sites, such as AutoTrader.co.uk and vice versa.

Import costs were calculated by using ShipMyCar. For each car, we input the ‘starting at’ or ‘Manufacturer's Recommended Retail Price’ figure, as well as selecting 2023 for the year. All US cars would be shipped from Houston, Texas to the UK and vice versa for cars coming from the UK to the US.