New car price rises keep on coming

The cost of new cars is going up again with more price rises from a number of manufacturers.

Renault and Skoda are the latest manufacturers to increase the cost of new cars. Renault prices are up by 3 per cent on particular models while Skoda has put up prices by an average of 2.1 per cent across the range.

Citroen has also increased the cost of new cars by up to £400 on particular models while Nissan has pushed up prices right across the range by an average of 1 per cent with the cost of the Micra up by 2.5 per cent. At the same time Ford has warned that it may be forced to raise prices again and Toyota is set to increase prices from the beginning of December.

Ford has already put up prices three times in 2009 by an average of 12 per cent across the range. These rises have seen the Ford Focus RS go up by £2000 - from £24,995 now costing £26,995 - since it went on sale in March this year while the Ford Fiesta Studio is now priced £10,895 - £2200 more than when it was first launched in October 2008.

Since the Renault Megane Coupe went on sale in January the price has gone up by nearly £1500 with the 1.9 dCi model now costing £18,585 compared to £17,095. 

There have been a number of prices rises this year from a number of other manufacturers already with SEAT, Nissan, Vauxhall and Honda also increasing prices.

With the scrappage scheme extended to include a further £100m, the rises from manufacturers has seen any saving with the cash-for-scrap discount drop dramatically with some being wiped out completely.

These latest increases are even more significant as prices are set to go up again in January when the rate of VAT goes back to the 17.5 per cent from the current reduced rate of 15 per cent.

As with the previous increases the manufacturers are blaming the state of economy for putting up prices and in particular the current poor exchange rate of the euro against the pound.

Speaking to Parker's, Nigel Sharp, managing director of Ford of Britain said: "Any price rise that we have could also depend on the current market as well as what our competitors are doing.

The value of the pound against the euro is still a major issue for us. The problem for us is that all of our costs are in euros, from materials to production."

However, there are still plenty of deals on pre-registered cars at car supermarkets and online brokers. Buyers can get a new Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Titanium with a saving of nearly £3000 or a Renault Megane Coupe 1.6-litre Expression with a saving of more than £4000.