With new car sales falling for the twelfth consecutive month in March and new registrations being down 16%, dealers are dramatically reducing their prices to encourage people into their showrooms and make some desperately needed sales.
This drop is bad news for dealers and manufacturers, but great news for anyone who is in the market for a new vehicle as you are very likely able to pick up a great discount now. What Car? agree and they think that it’s a buyers’ market to the extent that anyone thinking about buying a new car should take advantage of this rare opportunity.
Fantastic new car discounts available
WhatCar? found that the average discount on a new car is currently 8.6% which equates to £2560, but some dealers will slash prices by up to 5x that amount with staff more willing to offer a greatly reduced price to boost sales.
Not only are dealers feeling the pressure to sell cars due to falling sales overall, but discounts also need to be offered to those looking to buy due to the influx of new products on the market which is causing competition between dealerships.
Nearly 25% of car manufacturers are now offering potential customers discounts in the double digits, with the Seat Toleda 1.6 TDI 115 SE being found to have the greatest price reduction as its price was almost halved by 42.3%.
Other new cars which have been heavily discounted include the Fiat Punto 1.2 Pop+ 5dr (25.3%), the Seat Mii 1.0 Design Mii 5dr (25.3%), the Citroen Berlingo Multispace 1.2 PureTech Feel (22.7%), and the Volvo s60 T4 [190] SE Nav [Leather] (22.3%).
The best time to buy a new car
There are many people in the motor industry who agree that now is the best time to buy a new car.
James Hind, founder of Carwow has pointed out that there are particularly great offers on diesel cars at the moment, as sales of this type of vehicle have taken a real hit recently, the usual price differential between petrol and diesel cars has been cut by around a third. He also added that motorists can get a great price on petrol cars too if they are savvy when choosing and purchasing their new vehicle.
Director of Strategy at Close Brothers Motor Finance, Chris Bosworth, has taken this opportunity to say that dealers need to adapt to the changing market in order to get potential customers into their showrooms, and the best way to do this is to offer them a range of great finance options and a wide variety of cars, including petrol, diesel, and electric models.
With so much focus on the falling sales of new cars it may have been missed that data from AA Cars has shown that sales of used cars are also on the rise, which is partly due to the fact that finance deals are now available for used cars when they used to be predominantly for new cars. This means that more people are able to afford the type of car that they want to drive without getting tied up in expensive car finance leasing deals, where they don’t own the vehicle they buy until full payment is made.
Recommended deals from carwow
Using carwow makes choosing and buying your perfect car easy and enjoyable. Their top-rated local and national dealers will send you their best offers to compare – meaning you get the car you want, from the dealer you like best, at a price that’s right for you.
Jaguar E-pace £2140 average saving and additional £1000 off on deposit contribution.
Audi A3 Sportsback £1738 average saving and additional £1000 off on deposit contribution.
Land Rover Discovery Sport £2533 average saving and additional £500 off on deposit contribution.
Skoda Citigo £840 average saving and additional £500 off for test driving.
How to get a great deal
If you are looking to buy a new car, take these main points into consideration which will help you to get a great deal:
Finally, don’t be afraid to get impartial advice. PetrolPrices has a partnership with Carkeys, they provide a free and impartial, no obligation telephone based advice service where they can help you find the very best new and used car deals out there at the moment, which can save you up to £3000 on a car. Click on start now and fill in your details and an adviser will call to assist you.
Are you currently hoping to take advantage of these great new car offers? Would you be tempted to change your car due to the massive reductions that are on offer? Let us know in the comments below.
Sales targets ? Why must there be a sales target for selling every product The salesperson will then try to sell by any means legal or illegal just to reach their target and then get a bonus Not just new car sales have a target but every other new product as well Who sets these targets ?
It’s McGregor’s ‘Theory X’ school of people management in operation. Theory X says that people will work only if beaten, whipped and threatened; Theory Y says people want to work, want to do a job well and run on appreciation rather than fear.
From what I’ve seen of car salespeople, as a customer, they are the most idle bunch of people I’ve ever met. They do what suits them today, with no sense of a tomorrow, when they might need the customer to remember them with favour. When you can get them to look up from their screens you might catch their eye, but don’t count on it. (And no, I don’t dress like a scrap-dealer who bathes once a year, whether he needs to or not.) Recent experiences: Kia dealer – I walked in, hovered waiting to be seen, was ignored for five minutes (despite one bloke leaving an office, seeing me and dodging back inside); Mercedes dealer – listened to me, said they’d get in touch when they’d found what I wanted, since when nothing; Mazda dealer – too busy to see me as he had a display to erect before tomorrow; I could go on.
On the other hand, there was the SEAT dealer near Reading who worked his socks off to find the car my daughter wanted, but he was a real rarity; and my present MK Toyota dealership who are first-class in every way.
Agree totally regarding the salespeople – was completely ignored in a Land Rover dealership whilst looking for a Discovery & eventually walked out – on the upside I’m enjoying my Rav4.
Main dealers get bonuses from car manufacturers if they sell ‘X’ number of their vehicles in a specific period. These periods are generally specific, like when new registrations are about to come into force.
However, as people are afraid of committing to buy new as technology is rapidly changing, then they prefer to buy a good second hand vehicle with minimum mileage and with a huge chunk of depreciation off the original purchase price.
The car manufacturers are wise to this so what they are now doing is making new cars to order, hence the long waiting time and consequently keeping the car value high. You can however still get good deals if you can find what you want in the right colour. Difficult indeed!
I’ll probably be leasing my next one, the cost of repair doesn’t even come close to the value of peace of mind!
Agreed. BMW always ask if they can help. Mercedes completely ignored me in the showroom. And I had cash to buy.
They dont like cash , finance they make a commission on
Thank you for all the tips on how to get a great deal on a new car. I really want to buy a new car, but I don’t know how to get the best deal. I really like your tip about doing research and working out exactly what I can afford and stick to it. I think that would be a really smart way to save money. http://www.jimskinnerhonda.com/inventory?type=New
Seat hardly “desirable” cars!
Another reason that big discounts are being offered is that car prices have risen dramatically over the last three years and cars are presently well and truly over priced. Dealers got away with it due to selling cars via finance deals so buyers often were not aware of the true cost. Currently the new car market has reached saturation point and selling is very slow. The very large quantity of new car sales over the last few years has however resulted in a glut of very good used cars being available. Also a lot of drivers don’t want the gizmo’s on new cars, and so are opting for a low mileage used that doesn’t have them. We must also not forget the high first year tax on new vehicles, again causing buyers to go for used. Wouldn’t surprise me if discounts don’t go to 50% before long.