Car Prices Fall

According to the What Car? Price Index, new car prices have not altered for the last four months. After rises during the first half of 2004, prices are now back to virtually the same as 2003 and the average new car is now 0.1 per cent cheaper than a year ago.

The Index also reports that small cars are still leading the way. City cars are 2.8 per cent cheaper and supermini prices have fallen 1.7 per cent over the past year. Family cars are also down 0.1 per cent. The magazine reports that virtually every other class has become cheaper month-on-month.

A large price fall was recorded in the plate-change month of September, when prices traditionally rise compared with the quiet month of August. What Car? reports that this year, prices fell, despite a “healthy demand” among private buyers that was only six per cent below that shown in the previous September.