Average retail prices for new cars in the UK rose 5.1% during the 12 months to May 2004.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers and Europrice Index of New Car Prices shows that average retail car prices in the UK last month were 1% higher than the average for Western Europe and 3% higher than the average for the euro currency zone.

In the last 12 months, the average retail price of a car in Western Europe has risen by 4.4%. The strongest movement in retail car prices was in Denmark where prices rose by 7.9% during the 12 months to May. The weakest price movement was in Greece where retail prices decreased by 0.7%.

The current trend is for European retail car prices to rise more quickly than a year ago.