Competition from European importers could save consumers an extra £1.5 billion off the cost of buying new cars from UK dealers this year, claims a new study by independent price monitor, CarPriceCheck.
The organisation says its figures show that car buyers choosing to purchase a model from a UK supplier, which is also being offered by an independent importer, will save an average of £218 more than if the supplier faced no competition from Continental Europe.
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The CarPriceCheck study, which compared nearly eight million transaction prices for 4,100 models over the past three months from dealers, importers, manufacturers, car supermarkets and Internet retailers, confirms the effect of price-based rivalry from Europe on the competitiveness of UK dealers.
The average cash saving off the manufacturer#;s list price from a UK supplier currently stands at £1,354.48. This compares to an average discount of £2,419.74 offered by European importers. However, where UK dealers are free of competition from import channels, the average cash discount falls to £1,136.21.
UK suppliers are cheaper than Europe on just 440 models with the latter offering the best deals on 1,845 models. In total, importers now compete on 56% of all cars in the UK market – an increase of 10% compared to April 2001.
There are also signs that the price gap between UK and Europe continues to narrow. Negligible importer savings of less than £500 were found on 16% of available models – double the 2001 figures, although this is a sign of importers trying to increase margin rather than any alignment in European and UK prices.
“A European-sourced import is still, on average, £1,000 cheaper than a UK supplied model yet the increase in choice from importers over the past 12 months has seen a healthy response from dealers eager to maintain their own market share,” said CarPriceCheck chief executive Steve Evans.
“The data proves that a more open market with free competition from Europe benefits the most important person in the motor industry – the consumer.”
Citroen’s C5 is currently the best UK buy offering an average £1,529 saving over an imported model. The best import buy is the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, available at an average saving of £3,114 over UK supplied rivals.
