With the German car market down almost 10% in the first five months of the year, manufacturers are desparately trying to attract customers by offering some heavy discounts.
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According to the Centre for Automotive Research (CAR), reported by Automobilwoche, some dealers and manufacturers are offering discounts of up to a third off. Discounts are currently averaging 17%.
The biggest discount, at 33%, is being offered on the Citroen Berlingo as part of a campaign called ‘Traumziel Citroen’, which translates as ‘Dream destination Citroen’. The Berlingo is being offered from EUR9,450 instead of the regular list price of EUR14,950, a discount of EUR5,000.
The second biggest discount proportionately, and the largest discount in actual terms, is being offered through a special model of the soon-to-replaced Renault Laguna. The Laguna Grandtour Exception 1.9DCI, which celebrates 100 years of Renault selling cars in Germany, is available for EUR23,000, a discount of over EUR8,500.
Opel is offering cheap finance for the Corsa, which equates to a discount of 24%. As part of a campaign called ‘Opel makes Germany’s streets cleaner’, customers are entitled to a EUR1,000 eco-bonus, a EUR1,000 scrapping incentive and 24 months zero percent finance.
Other manufacturers offering discounts of over 18% include Ford, VW, Skoda, Toyota, Chrysler, Fiat and Hyundai.
CAR warned that discounts could now be setting into the market. Pre-registations of cars by dealers were up 10.5% in the first five months of the year compared with a year ago.
