City Car Buyers Clean Up With Drop In Prices And Rise In Quality
Published: 25th August 2005
The What Car? Price Index has revealed that the prices of new city cars are on average 4.3% cheaper than they were during June 2004. The Index, which has closely monitored new and used car prices in the UK for the past seven years, also shows that new cars are, on average, 0.1% more expensive than they were 12 months ago.Steve Fowler, What Car? group editor, said: "City cars represent sensational value right now - not only are they less expensive than they were last year, the latest crop are better equipped, safer, great to drive and cheap to run.In short, it makes great sense to buy a small car and there’s plenty of choice".
The What Car? Price Index also shows that the biggest price rise this month was in the compact executive class, where cars now cost 3.5% more than they did a year ago. Luxury car prices have also increased by an average of 2.5%.Second-hand and nearly new prices are continuing to fall. According to the latest figures three-year-old cars are 5.7% cheaper whilst year-old models are on average 11.4% cheaper than they were this time last year.
Overall price change of new cars (August 2004 - August 2005)
| City cars (eg Ford Ka, Kia Picanto) | -4.3% |
| Superminis (eg Renault Clio, Vauxhall Corsa) | -0.2% |
| Small family cars (eg Peugeot 307, VW Golf) | +0.9% |
| Family cars (eg Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra) | -0.9% |
| MPVs/people-carriers (eg Citroën C8, Renault Espace) | +2.0% |
| 4x4s (eg Land Rover Freelander, Toyota RAV4) | -1.8% |
| Compact executive cars (eg Audi A4, BMW 3 Series) | +3.5% |
| Executive cars (eg Jaguar S-type, Mercedes E-Class) | +0.5% |
| Luxury cars (eg BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS430) | +2.5% |
Overall price change of nearly new cars (August 2004 - August 2005)
| City cars (eg Ford Ka, Kia Picanto) | –5.6% |
| Superminis (eg Renault Clio, Vauxhall Corsa) | -4.6% |
| Small family cars (eg Peugeot 307, VW Golf) | -3.4% |
| Family cars (eg Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra) | -4.4% |
| MPVs/people carriers (eg Citroën C8, Renault Espace) | –7.5% |
| 4x4s (eg Land Rover Freelander, Toyota RAV4) | -11.4% |
| Compact executive cars (eg Audi A4, BMW 3 Series) | –7.7% |
| Executive cars (eg Jaguar S-type, Mercedes E-Class) | -7.0% |
| Luxury cars (eg BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS430) | –5.7% |
