CAR companies are attempting to entice buyers into showrooms by offering the sort of deals that would have been considered financial suicide just a couple of years ago. In some cases cars are being offered at cost price just to shift unsold stocks and to keep production lines moving in a bid to avoid shut-downs and redundancies. In other cases prices are not only reduced but models leaving the assembly lines are being crammed with masses of equipment at no extra cost. Alfa Romeo has introduced a new 159 Limited Edition with £3,000 worth of extras, Citroen has done the same with its new C1 Splash and Airdream+ versions of the C3 and C4 whilst Skoda has effectively made its Roomster £1,000 cheaper by offering free upgrades to higher trim and equipment levels and giving three years' worth of free servicing or a year's insurance. Most manufacturers are introducing new low-cost entry-level models such as the Renault Twingo Freeway and in the case of the most expensive cars the reductions are literally thousands of pounds. Chevrolet slashed £2,400 off its Lacetti 1.6 SX Station Wagon and £1,340 off the three-door Aveo 1.2 S bringing it down to £6,195 whilst the Corvette is down by £7,000. Cars that were registered by dealers to hit targets in September but remain unsold are now being offered as new but with second-hand prices. A Peugeot 407 Coupe HDI, which was £21,332 now costs just £14,995, which is a saving of £6,337. In the case of the family-orientated 407 SW HDI the price plummets from £20,457 to just £14,595, which is a whopping reduction of £5,862. There are many more examples and some of the biggest savings are not even advertised or promoted because dealers do not want to appear too desperate, preferring instead to offer discounts face-to-face at the showroom. However, the stark reality is that new cars sales are down significantly and dealers are desperate to shift stocks, which in many cases they have to pay for within a relatively short time of taking delivery from their manufacturer or importer. Many of the nearly-new cars they received as trade-ins or bought at auction are now worth less than they paid for them, which is causing some businesses massive cash-flow problems. The bottom line is that this is undoubtedly the greatest buyers' market ever with the biggest bargains of all time. However, with manufacturers slashing production and an acute shortage of trade-ins now reaching the second-hand market, it is unlikely to last too much longer. Experts including CAP and Glass's Guide are predicting that the shortening supply will lead to prices gradually going back up and history will show that those who were prepared to take the plunge now will have bagged the biggest new and used bargains.. | 
News | Road tests | Buying advice | Views | Special reports | Manufacturers | Used cars | New cars | Book an Ad | Dealers
