SUV discounts increase last quarter

Offers on new large SUVs have increased in the last quarter (June-August), with buyers netting an average of almost £3,000 off list price, according to the What Car? Target Price Report.

Analysis by mystery shoppers across 7,500 new cars on sale found achievable discounts on large SUVs of up to 25% over the last three months.

Despite savings on large SUVs increasing by 5.95 per cent, discounts on small cars, family cars and executive cars had declined.

The second quarterly Target Price report, which runs from June to August, reveals overall discounts have remained static at 8.18 per cent – equal to £2,550 off list price – despite new car sales falling by 4.2 per cent in 2018 with 1,571,986 sold so far.

August proved to be a bumper month for discounts, though, with savings spiking by 2.3 per cent compared with the last quarter. What Car? Target Price mystery shoppers found almost 1,500 models available with savings between 10% and 30% off list price during the month.

The strong August, where 94,094 new cars were registered in the UK, was helped by the introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). Dealers were under pressure to shift stock ahead of the law changes and slashed prices.

Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said, ‘Although overall discounts have remained static over the last quarter, savvy buyers have still been able to score a bargain using our Target Price data, especially during August, which we had predicted would be a bumper month for deals.’