The What Car? Price Index, which tracks the cost of buying cars, reports that prices rose despite new car sales dropping 5.6% year-on-year in the month when the 05 plate was introduced.
Buyers of nearly new cars (one-year old) and used cars (three-years-old) are having a better time as nearly new cars dropped in value by over 6% in March, while used car prices dropped by 7.5% – both compared with March 2004.
Steve Fowler, What Car? group editor, says: "Given the slow new car sales in January and February, we’re surprised our Price Index didn’t show a drop in prices during March – we’d expect dealers to be trying to entice more buyers into the showroom. It will be interesting to see if their tactics continue, especially as prices of second-hand cars on dealer forecourts are coming down markedly."
Only three types of new car are cheaper than they were a year ago:
City cars (eg Ford Ka) | 1.4% | |
4x4s (eg Land Rover Freelander) | 2.1% | |
Executive cars (eg BMW 5 Series) | 0.5% | |
Six categories were noticeably more expensive than they were a year ago:
Superminis (eg Vauxhall Corsa) | +0.2% | |
Small cars (eg Peugeot 307) | +4.0% | |
Family cars (eg Renault Laguna) | +2.5% | |
MPVs (eg Ford Galaxy) | +1.4% | |
Compact execs (eg Merc C-Class) | +1.4% | |
Luxury cars (eg Audi A8) | +3.0% | |
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