Autocar’s sister magazine What Car? has revealed the biggest new car discounts available in the UK ahead of the 20-plate change next month.
The most significant individual percentage discount found is for Fiat’s Fiat Tipo family hatchback, which can be had for £4350 less than its £15,180 recommended retail price (RRP) in 1.4-litre Easy trim guise – a saving of around 30%.
In second place is the Citroen C4 Cactus, which attracts a discount of up to £6472 – 26.84% of its RRP – while buyers can save up to £7738 on its larger C4 Spacetourer sibling. Citroen was found to be offering the most significant discounts on average, helping buyers to save an average of 16.44% on its new models.
Buyers could save £4071 on a new Seat and £3667 on a Nissan, while Skoda, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Smart are each offering discounts of between 11-12%.
The results of What Car?’s survey show that manufacturers have, generally, increased new car discounts compared to the same period last year. The average discount this year is 21.82% greater – or £840 higher – than in the run up to the plate change in March 2019.
Users of What Car?’s New Car Buying service can save 8.99% on average if buying a car ahead of the plate change.
March and September are traditionally bumper months for new car registrations; SMMT data shows that more than 458,000 new cars were registered in March 2019, compared to just 81,959 the month before.
What Car? editor Steve Huntingford said: “Our latest Target Price research shows new car buyers can save on average 8.99% when they buy through What Car? New Car Buying. What’s encouraging is that some of the most popular models on the road are being offered with very high discounts, exceeding 20% in some cases.
“Our research also suggests manufacturers are responding to the current dip in sales – driven by consumer uncertainty in the face of Brexit, with discounts this year nearly 22% higher than what we saw last year. That makes it a great time to shop around for a new car.”
Find a deal on a new car through What Car?'s online platform
Brands offering the largest average discounts across model range
1. Citroën - 16.44% (£4431)
