Dealer discounts increase on upper medium cars

During the past three months, discounts in the D Segment dominated by the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra, Citroen C5 and Renault Laguna have increased by around 2%, says CarPriceCheck.com.

With demand dampened by the increased popularity of superminis and the cash-for-car culture pushing many former company car drivers either up into compact executive, or down into more economical models, the pressure to shift stock continues to mount.

As a result, dealers and retailers are readily advertising double-digit discounts. For example, one supplier was offering a Vauxhall Vectra 2.0 DTi Saloon with a £4,796 or 27% saving off list price recently. CarPriceCheck.com also found discounts of between 8-12% on Toyota's new Avensis being advertised, and not dissimilar savings on Volkswagen's Passat.