A new study to gauge consumer confidence following the fall out of the Volkswagen emissions scandal has voted Ford the most trusted automotive brand in the UK.

Future Thinking questioned 2,735 respondents in the UK, asking which of the 29 top car brands they trusted most.

Ford was chosen by 29%, closely followed by BMW (27%) and Audi (25%) - despite the brand being involved in the emissions scandal, with nearly 400,000 affected Audi vehicles on UK roads.

The five lowest ranked automotive brands were Skoda (5%), Seat (4%), Subaru (4%), Smart (3%) and Suzuki (3%).

Volkswagen was trusted by 10%.

Lisa Bedwell, senior director at Future Thinking said: “The best-selling car brands in 2015 according to SMMT data were Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen and the success of car sales for Ford is also reflected in it being the most trusted brand, especially for older generations.

"By comparison, despite strong sales, trust in Vauxhall is certainly a lot lower and it is an indication that there is work to be done in improving their brand’s image.

"For Volkswagen where UK sales have dropped in the last month amid the emissions scandal, the level of trust is certainly now far lower than would have been expected.

"Consumers are clearly re-evaluating their perceptions of the brand and it faces a difficult time re-building trust and loyalty in the coming months.

"Interestingly trust in the Audi brand remains strong despite the wider group being implicated in the emissions scandal.”