A month out of the gate and the market is still down, but AM’s financial offer data shows manufacturers going after customers in Q1 this year with some aggressive offers.

With the March plate-change this month and the prospect of older diesels facing extra tax from April, the financial incentives backing new products up should prove to be a boost this quarter.

There has been a marked increase in 0% offers leading up to March, with 63 available across 16 brands. This is a 12.5% increase compared with the 56 0% offers in Q1 2017 spread across 14 franchises. It’s also much higher quarter-on-quarter compared with the 45 0% offers available in Q4 2017.

This indicates that the manufacturer finance houses are getting behind dealers to tempt customers in what is the most important month of the year for dealers.

There are quite a few brands offering no-deposit offers too, with Smart’s Fortwo and Forfour, the Mitsubishi Mirage and the Renault Clio all available with no advance payment.

Dacia, which offers the cheapest monthly payment, £99 for the Sandero, has three offers in the lowest monthly payment segment. The rest of the top 10 lowest monthly payments are spread across seven other manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota, Citroën, Suzuki, Škoda and Fiat. All have models available in Q1 for less than £140 a month.

The Toyota Aygo X-press is the lowest-priced 0% offer in Q1 at £129 a month on a 42-month PCP after a £2,199 deposit.

The average monthly payment in Q1 based on AM’s data is £345 a month, although when taking out niche and higher premium models, the average comes down to £283.

The Porsche 911 Turbo is the priciest example in Q1, at £1,461.88 a month. However, looking outside super-premium models, the Outlander PHEV 4h petrol hybrid Auto 4WD comes in at £592.32 a month.

The seven-seat Škoda Kodiaq could be the priciest mainstream model in AM’s data, but it’s £375 a month, which isn’t astronomically beyond the average monthly price level.

The highest APR in Q1 is on the Jeep Wrangler, at 7.5%. Jeep stands out in particular for Q1 due to having a difficult start to the year, down 67.72% to just 235 units. While the Wrangler is a niche product targeted at a very specific type of buyer, Jeep’s dealers do have affordable options, with the Renegade at £199 over four years and the Grand Cherokee on a 0% offer.

MG had a positive January with new car registrations, up 131.71% to 475 units. The MG3, ZS and GS are now all available for less than £200, way below the average monthly payment, which should help attract customers.

Nissan had a big drop of 30.42% to 7,917 units in January, although 0% offers on the majority of its model range, including core models such as the Qashqai, Juke and Micra can hopefully help dealers get back on track in the run-up to March.

While Porsche had a strong start to the year, up 44.69% to 994 units, Mini’s 26% jump in registrations in the first month of the year helped to boost it to 2,871 units.

Other than the niche John Cooper Works three-door hatch, Mini’s line-up is supported by a 2.9% APR PCP offer with all monthly payments below £280.

 

Top finance deals for retail buyers

Model Finance type Deposit Term Monthly payment Final payment APR Offer ends
Top 10 lowest monthly payments
Dacia Sandero Lauréate SCe75 PCP £2,327 36 £99 £3,424 4.90% 31/03/2018
Dacia Logan MCV Ambiance SCe 75 PCP £1,913 36 £109 £3,632 4.90% 31/03/2018
Dacia Sandero Stepway Ambiance TCe 90 PCP £2,180 36 £109 £3,671 4.90% 31/03/2018
Volkswagen Take up! 1.0 60PS 3dr PCP £2,777.06 47 £109 £2,593.80 6.60% 02/04/2018
Hyundai i10 SE 1.0 PCP £1,999 37 £120.38 £4,017.93 4.90% 31/03/2018
Toyota AYGO x-press 5dr 1.0 VVT-i Manual PCP £2,199 42 £129 £4,567.50 0% 02/04/2018
Citroën C1 VTi 68 manual 3dr Feel PCP £2,390.77 37 £129 £3,756 2.90% 31/03/2018
Suzuki Celerio 1.0 SZ2 5dr PCP £130 43 £129.53 £2,423 0% 31/03/2018
Škoda Citigo 3-door Colour Edition 1.0 MPI 60PS PCP £1,113.93 48 £135 £2,937.60 5.90% 02/04/2018
Fiat Panda Easy 1.2 70PS PCP £1,550 48 £139 £2,289 5.90% 31/03/2018
10 0% deals with monthly payments below £300
Toyota Aygo x-press 5dr 1.0 VVT-i Manual PCP £2,199 42 £129 £4,567.50 0% 02/04/2018
Suzuki Celerio 1.0 SZ2 5dr PCP £130 43 £129.53 £2,423 0% 31/03/2018
Nissan Micra Acenta Limited Edition IG-T90 with metallic paint PCP £3,266 36 £149 £5,910 0% 02/04/2018
Suzuki Swift 1.0 Boosterjet SZ-T 5DR PCP £1,916 43 £159 £4,905 0% 31/03/2018
Mazda2 75PS SE PCP £2,138.25 43 £159 £3,888.75 0% 31/03/2018
Suzuki Ignis 1.2 Adventure 5dr PCP £2,216 43 £159 £5,105 0% 31/03/2018
Ford Fiesta Titanium 1.0 100PS 5dr PCP £5,401 24 £165 £8,379 0% 31/03/2018
Citroën C4 Cactus PureTech 82 manual Feel PCP £2,410 36 £169 £5,321 0% 31/03/2018
Nissan Juke Acenta DIG-T 115 PCP £4,742.71 36 £169 £6,158.29 0% 02/04/2018
Ford B-Max Titanium Navigator 1.0 EcoBoost 100PS PCP £5,830 24 £169 £7,054 0% 31/03/2018
10 vehicles with the highest APR
Volkswagen Take up! 1.0 60ps 3dr PCP £2,777.06 47 £109 £2,593.80 6.60% 02/04/2018
Suzuki Jimny 1.3 SZ3 3dr PCP £2,390 43 £195 £4,224 6.90% 31/03/2018
Audi A3 Sport 1.5 TFSI 150 PS 6-speed PCP £6,283.19 47 £249 £8,493.95 6% 02/04/2018
Škoda Octavia Hatch SE 1.0 TSI 115PS, with Pacific Blue PCP £707.83 48 £255 £5,922.90 6.30% 02/04/2018
Porsche 718 Cayman S PCP £11,100 35 £357.72 £35,148.65 6.40% 02/04/2018
Porsche Macan PCP £10,200 36 £433.76 £27,418.90 6.50% 02/04/2018
Jeep Wrangler 4dr Overland 2.8 CRD 200hp Automatic 4x4 PCP £9,240 48 £439 £14,231 7.50% 31/03/2018
Porsche 718 Boxster PCP £9,900 36 £459.02 £24,995.45 6.40% 02/04/2018
Fiat Stelvio 2.2 Turbo Diesel 210PS Q4 AWD Speciale PCP £5,999 48 £465 £17,783 6.90% 31/03/2018
Fiat Stelvio 2.2 Turbo 210PS Q4 AWD Milano Edizione PCP £6,499 48 £495 £18,140 6.70% 31/03/2018