New Car Sales Down 16%

[Guest eight]

I pretty much always buy the same car and the same model had gone up 20% between 2007 and 2010 and couldn't chip the price down much anywhere only usual 'we'll throw in some mats etc.'.

Maybe you should have bought a different car. If they know you only want a certain one then they've got you pretty much over a barrel.

[chris25]

Take the price of the base model (new), which has no bells or whistles, of each car manufacturer. It goes up each year.

It's not technologically more advanced by much each year, essentially it is a box on four wheels. Ask what has changed.....?

Modern cars need to pass more and more regulations every year. To fulfil these requirements they need complex additions which require thousands more hours of R&D and massive amounts of raw resources.

You can see the extra amounts of resources needed in cars. Just look at the old mini for example. Weighs 0.5 tons. The new one weighs 1.2 tons.

Cars are getting heavier and larger in the interest of "safety". But every time a car gets heavier the force exerted at a crash increases. This probably explains why road deaths are still not decreasing.

[efdemin]

I pretty much always buy the same car and the same model had gone up 20% between 2007 and 2010 and couldn't chip the price down much anywhere only usual 'we'll throw in some mats etc.'.

Yes, and how much has Sterling devalued in that time period?

The cost of raw materials and the design and manufacture has gone up in £'s, hence it is the major part of the list price increase. How much, as a %, has food gone up in that period?

Give thanks to Merv for his wonderful printy printy.

Edit: Don't forget the higher VAT (17.5% vs. 20%, and for a short time, 15%) either.

Edited December 8, 2011 by efdemin

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

Is it me or do the prices seem to have gone up a lot recently?

I mean, I know the list prices aren't that different.. but it seems that there is very little discounting at the moment.

Was just looking for a typical reps car.. mondeo / A3 / Passat etc.

For a low/mid spec diesel automatic you're looking at pretty much £20k on the nose after the usual discounts.

Are sales falling because prices are rising.. or have I just been out of touch for the last few years?

[ Edit to add: I'd buy British if anyone could point me to a decent dual-clutch automatic with efficient diesel engine... ]

A4 is more your typical fleet car.

Issue is that with a garage it's not just about sales. If you sell less, you are probably maintaining more.

For example my local didn't sell tyres a few years ago (apparently the mechanics thought it was beneath them). Now surprisingly it does.

Suspect a lot of places have cut their sales force to the bone and are concentrating on the service maintainence. For fleet sales they probably can use centralised offices.