"The lie of cheaper cars"

"Despite new regulations to force down prices, UK
drivers are still paying about 50 per cent more than
the rest of Europe" 


Customers are still being ripped off by the motor industry
despite the introduction of regulations aimed at forcing down the
cost of new cars. 

'British car buyers are still paying about 50 per cent more than
those in Europe,' says Geoff Seymour of Alliance & Leicester,
which co-publishes the monthly Car Price Index with What Car?
magazine. 'The small car market is very competitive, but prices
of other types of car have hardly moved at all. People are not
getting good deals. It's very disappointing.' 

But the Competition Commission that believes the real problem
is the Car Block Exemption, European legislation enabling the
industry to operate in a way that would not normally be allowed
under European competition law. 

It gives car makers the right to choose who sells their cars,
allocate them exclusive territories, and decide how many they
should sell. 

In reality, this means the makers can set wholesale prices,
profit margins and retail prices. In continental Europe prices
have been set to enable customers to pay roughly the same
final price, despite different tax levels. 

But manufacturers have decided the Channel provides a
sufficient barrier to deter most UK customers from buying
abroad, enabling the manufacturers to set much higher prices in
Britain than in the rest of Europe. 

Research by the European Commission confirmed last July that
the UK is the most expensive market in Europe for 52 out of 81
models surveyed. 

Last March a report by the UK Competition Commission warned
that a car order such as that implemented by Byers last year
would not solve the prices problem in the UK while competition
is inhibited by the exemption. 

The exemption comes up for review next September, and
European Commissioners have indicated that some changes are
necessary. 

Jill Insley
Sunday October 14, 2001
The Observer 

-----------------------------

"Perceptions" note:-

This latest evidence contradicts all the reassuring lies told
to us by successive previous governments and by the English 
media - including the BBC.

-----------------------------

evidence file for "beeb2.html"

-------------------------------------------------

              FURTHER REFERENCES

  GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE


file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/ripoff8.txt