The biggest new car discount in Britain over Christmas is on a Volvo S80, new research by What Car?’s Target Price team can reveal.

The saving of £7,312 was haggled by What Car?'s mystery shoppers and represents a saving of nearly a quarter off the car's list price, dwarfing the average family Christmas spend of £822*.

Confirming the Swedish manufacturer as the most price-flexible, Volvo can also boast the most heavily discounted estate car – the Volvo V70 D3 SE – and large SUV, the XC90 2.4 D5.  Volvo offers the highest average manufacturer discount of 15.4%.

What Car?'s Target Price research reveals double-digit discounts are achievable on vehicles in every vehicle sector, from city cars to open-tops, far exceeding the cost of Christmas for most families. 

Analysis also shows how car-buyers flock online to search for a replacement car once Christmas is over, with traffic to Whatcar.com tripling on Boxing Day until New Year’s Day.  

Discounts on cars in the executive and luxury segment are particularly strong by virtue of their higher list price and profit margins. However, fun-to-drive hot hatches (Skoda Fabia 1.4 TSI 180 vRS 13%) and in-demand city cars (Fiat Panda 1.2 Pop 18%) can be bought at well below list price, too. 

What Car? editor Jim Holder said: "Securing a good deal on a new car is immensely satisfying and can save a fortune. Some discounts could pay for Christmas several times over.

"While vehicle production in Europe remains high, demand in the UK at least, is strong. We’ve been expecting discounts to diminish but the insight provided by our Target Price team shows there are still fantastic deals on offer if you are willing to haggle hard.

"Like a number of other brands which will offer large discounts, Volvo is perceived as among the prestige car makers, which means car-buyers could secure themselves a luxurious and safe family vehicle at a great price."

Expected discounts by sector

 

Average discounts by manufacturer

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Research from YouGov in 2013 suggests UK households will spend £822 on Christmas on average, an increase of £54 on 2012.