Alliance & Leicester car price index shows transaction prices fell across all new car categories for the first time in April.

New car prices nosedived nearly 6% compared to last year, the largest fall for seven months, as dealers and manufacturers offered one-off discounts and cashbacks to encourage consumers back to the showroom.

Steve Fowler, editor of What Car? which helps produce the monthly reports, said: “This is the most significant fall in new car prices since the A&L car price index was launched seven months ago.” Nearly new car prices continued to drop, by 15.8%, and used car prices fell 15.3%.