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A number of car manufacturers have announced they will continue to offer cars at the lower 15 per cent VAT rate right up to the end of the year.
The price of a car is usually determined by the delivery date. This means that anyone who orders a new car this year, but doesn't take delivery until after the rate changes at the end of the year, will be subject to the higher price. The manufacturers altering their prices to counter the VAT rise are:
- Nissan
- Vauxhall
- Skoda
- Suzuki
The offer is valid across all of Nissan's range, but Vauxhall has gone further, offering to cover the full cost of the VAT on a new car, providing it's ordered by the end of November. The offer will only stand if the car ordered arrives before the end of the year, though, and is valid at most, but not all, of Vauxhall's dealerships.
Skoda is only offering the deal on three of its models - the Fabia, Roomster and Octavia - but is extending the offer to orders made up to the end of January 2010.
Suzuki is offering the reduction to customers who defer their first monthly payment for three months, but this means customers can't take up the 0 per cent finance offer available on much of its range.
Customers would instead pay 4.6 per cent on the deferred payments, cancelling out the benefit of the 2.5 per cent VAT-related reduction.
