UK new car buyers drive a bargain as average discount nears £6,000 | Automotive industry

If you’re thinking of buying a new car, now could be the time to act, as new data shows manufacturers and dealers are slashing prices by more than 10%, with the average discount approaching £6,000.

The typical discount available on all petrol, diesel and electric cars sold in the UK is 11.4% of the on-the-road price – the equivalent of £5,911 – according to Insider Car Deals, which sells discount data to people looking to buy.

On-road prices include all the extras needed to drive a car, including road tax, registration fees, number plates, delivery and VAT.

For electric vehicles (EVs), the average price reduction is 12.9%, including savings from government subsidies for electric cars that apply to some vehicles. The absolute amount of rebates on battery cars is larger, at £7,091, mainly because manufacturers have been slower to produce electric versions of the smaller, cheaper cars that form the backbone of the petrol market.

While that’s good news for consumers, auto industry executives complain that official EV sales targets are too strict, forcing them to offer “unsustainable” discounts on battery cars amid intense competition – particularly from new Chinese brands.

Additionally, despite the auto industry’s focus on electric vehicles pushing for easier targets, for some models the discount over a gasoline model is proportionately greater. Take the popular British-made Nissan Qashqai: pricing data suggests a new model can be found for £36,000, or 17.9% off the recommended retail price.

Nissan hasn’t started production of its electric Qashqai, but its similarly sized EV, the Ariya, has a discount of just 13.1%, putting it at an average price of £45,264 (with some versions eligible for subsidies).

Kia’s Niro EV can be found 7.1% off, at £38,460, without being eligible for a grant, while there’s 13.2% off a Kia Niro Hybrid, which combines a small battery with a petrol engine, putting it at £33,225.

Whatever choice buyers make, it usually pays to haggle – especially at the end of the month or quarter, when dealers may have sales goals to meet.

Although the initial price of a new electric car remains higher in many cases, the total cost of ownership could well be lower, particularly for people who can charge their car at home. Battery motors are much more efficient, meaning less energy is lost to heat and noise, directly leading to lower energy costs (and much lower carbon emissions), while maintenance costs are also lower on average.

The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a campaign group, calculated last month that internal combustion engines cost drivers an annual “petrol premium” of £1,300 at 2025 fuel prices.

Colin Walker, head of transport at ECIU, said: “With the majority of people able to charge their vehicles at home and taking advantage of cheap night-time charging rates, these vehicles can generate savings worth hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds a year. »

The UK’s electric car grant of up to £3,750 has helped achieve price parity between electric and petrol for some new car models. Walker highlighted the Ford Puma, the UK’s best-selling car in 2025, priced from £26,580. This compares to £26,245 for the electric Puma Gen-E, after the grant.

“It’s no surprise that electric vehicle sales will have increased so significantly in 2025,” says Walker. “The choice of models is constantly expanding and, importantly, the price of electric vehicles is falling as manufacturers compete to meet their electric vehicle sales targets. »

Shortages of new cars during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting chip shortage meant discounts were not necessary to switch cars, but the market is in decline – with the added boost of competition from Chinese brands such as BYD, SAIC’s MG and Chery’s Omoda and Jaecoo offering attractive prices. This put bargains back on the table at car dealerships.

Pat Hoy, founder of Insider Car Deals, says the level of discounts is “not unprecedented. The market as a whole is starting to look a lot like it did just before Covid, where manufacturers are returning to their usual sales models, turning discounts on and off.”