The Germans top the list for for car buyers "wants" this Christmas, but the British are only just behind.

All car buyers want for Christmas is a German car, according to Christmas wish list survey results from Motors.co.uk. A poll held by Motors.co.uk revealed that 28.3% of people want a German car, with 8.9% of respondents hoping for an Audi delivery this year from Santa, and the same number electing for BMW. 

Mercedes-Benz secured 6.2% of the poll and Volkswagen also featured in the top ten, with 4.3% of the votes, despite the autumn emissions scandal.

British brands also performed well, at 18.1% overall, with Land Rover (8.8%), Jaguar (5.3%) and Aston Martin (4.1%) all making the Christmas wish list. The top ten was completed by Ford (8.8%), Nissan (3.6%) and Porsche (3.3%). The most-wanted individual model this Christmas was the Range Rover, including Sport, Evoque and Vogue (5.8%), followed by the Porsche 911 (1.8%), Volkswagen Golf (1.8%), Ford Focus (1.8%) and Ford Fiesta (1.6%).

Dermot Kelleher, director of marketing and business intelligence at Motors.co.uk, commented: “While the popularity of Land Rover may be down to the usual winter trends, the unseasonably warm weather means that other factors may also have played a part. For example, the high brand visibility for Land Rover across both the Rugby World Cup and the recent launch of Spectre, the latest in the James Bond franchise, may also have contributed to the increase in searches.”

For the second consecutive year, the Batmobile was featured on the Santa wish list, which also saw requests for a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, Aston Martin DB10, AC Cobra, McLaren F1, MG MGA, Hillman Imp and a snowmobile. A number of Ferrari and Lamborghini models also made regular appearances while the alternatively-fuelled section was represented by requests for a Tesla Model S.

Kelleher continued: “What’s interesting about this kind of research is that, even when you put a ‘money no object’ opportunity in front of consumers, many people will still go for more conventional choices, like the Dacia Duster, Citroën C1, Ford Fiesta and Kia Cee’d. 

“There is a serious lesson here for dealers as well. The key placing of Audi, BMW and Land Rover shows that the premium brands continue to appeal to the consumer. German and British models also remain front of mind with UK consumers. And, VW’s brand image doesn’t seem to have been dented too significantly by recent emissions woes.

“As we enter 2016, dealers need to fill their forecourts with the right stock to meet consumer demand. While our Santa wish list is good fun, we’d encourage our dealers to make use of the retail demand data we provide in The Eye (Motors.co.uk’s response reporting tool) and in our ‘What’s Hot?’ section in order to complement their own market intelligence and inform their stocking policies.”

In terms of most desired technology, 46% put parking cameras and sensors at the top of their wish list. This was followed by DAB radio (19.8%), Sat-Nav (19.3%), hands-free or Bluetooth (9.7%) and USB ports (5.2%). Kelleher concludes: “The results of this poll show that the convenience of navigation, entertainment and safety clearly outweigh connectivity in transit.”