AM has teamed up with What Car? Connect, the data marketing and insight service, to produce a monthly look at used car sales and target price data.

The latest analysis examines the small car market. Compiled in conjunction with the What Car? Connect data marketing and insight tool, the report looks at a sector that ranks consistently highly in reliability and satisfaction reports.

Small Cars: Average discounts of 9.5%

Discounting in the small car segment sits just below the all-segment average of 10.2%, at 9.5%.

As always, there’s a big range of discounts across individual models, Skoda offering a spectacular 24.9% off its Fabia 1.2 TSI 86 SE. But the reductions on premium and high-style models like the Audi A1, Fiat 500 and Mini are contained below 6%.

Top five average target price discount

Suzuki Swift 17.6% / £2,097
Suzuki Splash 17.4% / £1,775
Seat Ibiza 15.4% / £2,205
Skoda Fabia 15.2% / £1,974
Citroen C3 14.6% / £1,976

Skoda offers the best finance deals, most Fabias available with a 42-month, 0% APR PCP that comes with three year’s/30,000 mile free servicing in addition to the typical range discount of 15.2%.

Other incentive highlights include a four-year, 0% APR hire purchase deal on Citroen C3s, a £2,875 per car factory saving on Ibiza Tocas, a £1,000-per-car finance deposit contribution on Nissan Micras purchased using a three-year, 6.9% APR Nissan PCP, and five years interest-free hire and five years interest-free hire purchase with a £750 finance deposit on selected Vauxhall Corsas.

Almost half of the 25 models in the Small Car segment are supported by manufacturer-backed bonuses or guaranteed customer savings (in addition to the dealers’ usual trading margin) ranging from £500 (most Fiestas) to £2,995 (Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI 86 SE).

These bonuses and customer savings typically come from brands that are either volume orientated (Citroen, Fiat, Ford) or are keen to grow market share (Hyundai, Seat, Suzuki). By contrast, dealers representing premium manufacturers such as Audi, Mini and Volkswagen can restrict discounts to around 6%, and without the benefit of manufacturers’ discounted finance.

The polarisation between volume-orientated, high discount cars and prestige low-discount models will continue and should mean that Target Price discounts will remain around the all-segment average. But there will still be plenty of great deals to for serious bargain hunters.

> What Car? Connect