jjj CVs the losers in price war II by Peter Lawton
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Car buyers are saving thousands of pounds while commercial vehicle buyers have to wade through a maze of offers and bargains to get a better deal.
Vauxhall found its way into the pages of the national press last week by claiming UK car buyers could secure "Continental prices" through domestic dealers.
The new initiative—Value Pricing—aims to strip away the marketing incentives such as 0% finance and extended warranties of some of the more popular models including the Corsa, Tigre, Astra and Vectra.
Spokesman Graeme Fudge says Vauxhall has simply focused attention on these extras rather than cutting retail prices; he stresses that buyers could have secured the savings at anytime.
But while the scheme may bring some car models in line with prices paid on the Continent, it is not being extended to light CVs. It's a marketing initiative on our most popular car models," says Fudge. "We have always got some incentive on our LCVs. It wouldn't be the case that someone would walk into a dealer and not get any incentives. it's entirely up to the individual dealer—we don't set prices centrally" But this means LCV buyers will have to contend with the marketing incentives that the Value Pricing scheme aims to strip away to give a "totally transparent price".
The emphasis on cars reflects the current trend: the Consumers' Association continues to fight for private car buyers, dubbing pricing structures as a "rip-off", but is reluctant to throw its weight behind commercial buyers.
CA spokesman Jenny Driscoll says: "Commercial buyers are getting up to a 35% discount while private buyers can only get about 3%, so we are fighting for them."
However, some commercial buyers still feel they are getting a raw deal compared with their continental counterparts and are looking abroad in order to save cash (CM, 30 March-5 April).
Among operators taking this route is Peter Logan, who works in grit blasting but wants to move into light haulage.
He is travelling to Germany to buy a new Mercedes Sprinter 316CDi. The maximum saving I could get in this country is £1,800 off the list price," he says. "I'm sure I can get a much better price in Germany, and that includes all the rigmarole. It's about time that people in this country were able to freely buy on the Continent without the hassle., were all meant to be part of the European Union, after all."
Other manufacturers are courting private buyers with deals on cars only. Mitsubishi cut the prices of its cars in December last year but told Commercial Motor there would be no drop in the cost of CVs until the launch of a new model.
It is unclear as yet if the report by the Department of Trade and industry's Competition Commission into vehicle retailing will result in any drop in CV prices, despite expectations that car prices will be forced down by as much as 10% as a result.