Without further manufacturer-funded support, franchised dealers are struggling to push new car prices any lower according to the latest figures from independent price monitor, CarPriceCheck.com

Analysis shows that the cost of a UK supplied car fell by an average of 0.2% in November compared to October – or just £24 for a £12,000 family hatchback. In total, forecourt prices moved for only 1 in 8 models available in the market today.

The latest data means that the actual cost of buying a new car has fallen for four consecutive months. The average discount now stands at 7.8% - although savings are as high as 21% in some cases.

However, compared to September when the Big Three of Ford, Vauxhall and Peugeot delivered average month-on-month cuts of 1.6% to welcome the new registration plate, November saw a nominal 0.1% collective fall in prices.

“The 2-3% monthly reductions may have disappeared, but significantly, for the moment at least, prices haven’t gone up,” explained Steve Evans, chief executive of CarPriceCheck.com. “Since August, dealers have been aggressively improving discounts in response to stalling retail sales. The problem is they can only go so far, which might explain why Ford, Rover and
VW have all cut their headline prices by between £500-£2,500 in recent weeks to renew interest from the public.”

Evans adds: “As Christmas approaches consumer demand usually falls away. Manufacturers always resort to raiding the cupboard for ideas to try and stimulate interest and clear out old model stock ahead of the 2003 Model Year. Consumers might see some spectacular headline offers at the moment, but the truth is, a large number of those deals have been around since
August and September.”

Despite the recent flurry of activity, European importers and Car Supermarkets remain the cheapest source of supply for 53% of the 2,924 models they openly compete on with UK franchised dealers and Internet suppliers.

Transaction prices across all the supply channels (Import, Internet, Car Supermarket and franchised dealer) have actually risen by 1.2% on average during November. Of note, Renault and Honda bucked the general upward trend to record price falls of 1.9% and 2.5% respectively.