New prestige prices are rising at below average rate

The list price of the average prestige-brand car is rising, but at a slower rate than for the new car market as a whole.

According to EurotaxGlass's monthly Glass's New Car Market Trends report, figures for June show the list price of compact executive cars (BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, etc) rose on average by 0.3%, year-on-year, to the end of June, while large executive models (Audi A6, Mercedes E-Class, etc) rose by 1%. This compares to a rise across the UK new car market as a whole of 1.8%.

"Premium-brand car manufacturers are pushing hard to grow their market shares in the face of intense competition and a gradual easing back in demand," says Alan Cole of EurotaxGlass's market intelligence service.

"Therefore, despite rising energy and steel costs, the prestige marques are reluctant to lift list prices and indeed many are continuing to work with their franchised dealer networks to offer incentives and negotiable discounts to encourage continued customer interest."

List prices of new superminis (eg Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 206, etc) lag behind all other sectors, falling by 0.4%, or £27 over the past 12 months.

The lower-medium segment (eg Ford Focus, VW Golf) has seen above-average levels of list price inflation - up 3.2%, year-on-year or equivalent to an additional £397 on the average car. The sector continues to be influenced by a number of new arrivals, where additional specification over the outgoing models is in part responsible for average price increases.

List prices of upper-medium cars (Vauxhall Vectra, Toyota Avensis) have risen by 2.8%, year-on-year, equivalent to an additional £399 on each vehicle.

Compact MPVs (eg Renault Mégane Scenic, Vauxhall Zafira) rose by 2.9%, compared with 1.6% for the slower-selling large MPV sector (eg Renault Espace, Peugeot 806).

The single biggest list price fall in June was for the Jaguar XJ8 4.2-litre Sovereign saloon, which fell by £2,125, or 3.67%, to £55,777. The greatest list price increase was for the XJ Super 4.2-litre long-wheelbase saloon, which rose in price by £3,025, or 4.25%, to £74,277.

The list price of the 'average' new car referred to in the monthly Glass's New Car Market Trends report is based on analysis of over 1,000 models across key UK vehicle segments. To ensure the results are representative of true market trends, the data is weighted by sales volumes.