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New car buyers see budgets rise because of lockdown – and they want more premium brands

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Time 9:00 am, July 15, 2020

A fifth of new car buyers say their vehicle budget has risen because of the lockdown.

That’s among the latest findings by new car buying platform What Car?, which polled 6,245 in-market buyers and found that 20 per cent of them were reporting an increased budget as result of the lockdown.

Meanwhile, 12.5 per cent of those who said they had more to spend had their eyes on a brand that was more premium than they’d gone for before.


Last week, What Car? found that a fifth of people were looking to downsize because the pandemic had hit their pursestrings, as reported by Car Dealer.

In the latest poll, published today (Jul 15), just over half of the respondents – 52 per cent – said their shortlist had more vehicles on it because of the lockdown. More than a third had at least three on their list, and nearly a fifth were looking to choose between four or more vehicles.

And 37.5 per cent of all new car buyers said they were holding off in case incentives were brought in by the government – three weeks ago, it was 45 per cent.


Rachael Prasher, managing director of What Car?, said: ‘It’s becoming increasingly apparent that we are heading towards a buyers’ market.

‘The lockdown has clearly proved beneficial to some buyers, as our research shows consumers are expanding their budgets and vehicle shortlists, with some moving up to the premium vehicle segments as a result.

‘Buyers also tell us they aren’t afraid of asking for discounts, with 42 per cent of respondents saying they will delay their purchase if a dealer can’t match their desired price on a vehicle.’

New car buyers looking to downsize as coronavirus hits budgets – and they want better deals too

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John Bowman's avatar

John has been with Car Dealer since 2013 after spending 25 years in the newspaper industry as a reporter then a sub-editor/assistant chief sub-editor on regional and national titles. John is chief sub-editor in the editorial department, working on Car Dealer, as well as handling social media.



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