Price cut bonanza on the way

Nov 17 2008 Steve Hughes

SOME new cars could soon be sold at half price as manufacturers and dealers become increasingly desperate to shift stocks.

This is the prediction of consumer motoring magazine What Car? following a survey of forecourt prices across the country.

The magazine's researchers say that some new cars are already being offered with discounts of up to 45 per cent - an unprecedented reduction.

The average discount on all new cars is said to be £1,932, which is £244 more than at the beginning of the year and more than twice that of seven years ago.

However, that is the average figure and does not reveal the massive savings that can now be made on some mainstream models.

Official registration figures show that the new car market is down 23% but the true figure, taking out cars that have been registered by dealers, could be as much as 35%.

What Car? says that some cars are being supplied to dealers at 60% off their list price.

This has enabled dealers to offer models such as the Citroen Xsara Picasso for as little as £8,570, which is 45% lower than the official £15,614 list price.

Ford dealers are offering the Galaxy people-carrier for under £15,000 in comparison to the official entry price of more than £20,000, with similar savings on the Ford S-MAX.

Even smaller cars such as the Volkswagen Golf are attracting discounts of ten per cent whilst brand new models that have only just gone on sale, such as the all-new Ford Fiesta, are being offered with discounts of 15 per cent.

However, in monetary terms the most generous discounts are to be found on the biggest cars such as the Range Rover, Porsche Cayenne and several large limousines including discounts of £11,500 off the Jaguar XJ.

Another consumer magazine, Which? says that discounts also apply to many of the most sought-after eco-friendly models that are also among the cheapest to run.

Which? Top Ten Green Cars:

Fiat Panda 1.3 Multijet Dynamic 5-dr £6,471 saving £2,519.

Citroën C2 1.4 HDi Vibe 3-dr £8,082 saving £2,108.

Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI 70 1 5-dr £8,333 saving £1,592.

Citroën C1 1.0i Vibe 3-dr £6,117 saving £1,423.

Peugeot 107 1.0 Urban Lite 3-dr £6,176 saving £1,364.

Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVT-I 3-dr £6,154 saving £1,016.

Suzuki Splash 1.2 GLS 5-dr £8,454 saving £594.

Mazda2 1.4D TS (AC) 3-dr £9,027 saving £567.

SmartForTwo 1.0 71 Pure 2-dr £6,955 saving £490.

Hyundai i10 1.2 Comfort 5-dr £7,398 saving £342.