Not before time, there’s growing evidence that vehicle makers accept they’ve pushed their luck as far as they dare with the naughty, inflation-shattering price hikes that force some customers out of the new-car market. The latest, logical plan is to start pricing them back in again.
Understanding this better than most are manufacturers in Europe’s eastern quarter and on mainland China – thus their latest, circa £15k models.
The Renault 5 is the perfect car to kickstart the EV revolution
The Best Bargain Car of the past few months (the Dacia Spring) has just been succeeded by the marginally more convincing Leapmotor T03, which in turn might be beaten by BYD’s Dolphin Surf later this year. But genuine bargains don’t have to be the absolute cheapest models, as Dacia’s Duster (from £19,380) and Bigster (£24,995) prove.
France-based firms are the current champs of Western Europe for marketing brilliant, sensibly priced, small to medium state-of-the-art cars. Citroen’s electric e-C3 is a steal at £22,095, and also world-class are the Renault 5 (£22,995) and imminent Renault 4 (let’s pray for a bog-standard version with rubber mats) from just £24,995.
MINI’s much-need Spring sale (8-12 May) came and went too quickly, but discounts can and should still be had. Volkswagen’s bigger, longer sale runs until 19 May. “May we have your attention?” the company asks of the new buyers it seeks. Only if you bring your entry-level Polo down below the £20k price point is my reply.
