Importing cars ‘pointless and time consuming’
Importing cars from the continent is a ‘pointless and time consuming’ exercise because of price cuts in the domestic market, according to Autocar magazine.
The magazine claimed that price cuts, faltering exchange rates and worries about the quality of import dealers is strangling the car import business, which was so popular through the 1990’s.
Consumers were able to make massive savings of around £1,500 by importing their cars from the continent, despite many of them being manufactured in the UK and then exported to Europe for sale.
The historically high price for British consumers began to tumble in 2000 when consumers campaigned for UK prices to be aligned with those in Europe. As the campaign continued thousands of UK consumers took advantage of import firms who offered new, right-hand drive cars at substantially lower prices.
However, Autocar revealed today that dozens of these import firms have gone out of business and more are likely to go bankrupt as the tide continues to change.
Imports accounted for 123,000 new car registrations during 2001-02, but this year the figure is forecast to be 57,000 or lower, according to the magazine, as customers return to their local and trusted UK dealer.
Steve Sutcliffe, editor of Autocar commented, ‘It’s good news for the UK dealer network to see customers back in their showrooms. 2003 is forecast to be the second highest sales year on record with 2.5 million registrations, so it’s even better news for buyers who can get the cars they want, at a price they are happy with from the dealer they know and trust.’
Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, argued that the changes in the exchange rate and cheaper cars in the UK mean that importers can only make a tiny profit on each car. These firms are now having to look to the UK as a source for their stocks.
A Virgin Cars spokeswoman added, ‘When we started in 2000 everything we sold was imported. Now that the exchange rate has collapsed, 80 per cent of our business is UK-sourced. The only savings on imports are on Mercedes and Audis costing over £40,000.’
In 2000 importing a BMW 330d SE would have saved consumers £1,555, but now the saving would be £749.
However, the ‘grey market’ (imports from non-European countries) still continue to offer many savings for consumers. 40,000 cars, mainly from Japan are expected to reach the UK in 2003.
