Attitudes Towards Car Pricing

Here are some questions about the price of various products.

Q1 Which types of products, goods and services, if any, do you particularly think are overpriced in Britain compared to the rest of Europe?Base 1,002

	%
Cars	66
Food	34
Utilities (Gas, Water, Electricity, Phone)	16
Electrical (Fridges, Cookers, Hi-fi, TV, Video etc.)	28
Clothes (eg Jeans, shirts etc)	31
Transport	15
Holidays	7
Drinks/tobacco	34
Footwear	9
Perfumes	12
All of them/everything	11
Other	-
None	1
Don't know	4

Q2 Which of the following statements apply to your own situation? Base 1,002

	%
I/we currently have a company car	9
I/we currently have a private car (ie paid for by me/us personally	71
I/We currently do NOT have a car but might get one in the future	7
I/we do NOT have a car and do not intend to get one	16
I/We have bought, or chosen, a BRAND NEW car in the last 5 years	9
I/We intend to buy, or choose, a BRAND NEW car in the next 2 years	10

Thinking now about the price of CARS in Britain against the rest of Europe.

Q3 If a brand new car cost 16310,000 in Britain how much do you think an equivalent car (with right hand drive) could be bought for by a British car buyer if they travelled to Europe and bought it there, taking account of all UK taxes once it has been bought back? Base 1,002

	%
Under 16310,000	90
Over 16310,000	2
Don't know	7
Average = 1637,141 (29% Below UK Price)

Q4 Surveys by the European Commission and others indicate that car makers charge more for new cars in Britain than they do for similar models in the rest of Europe. To what extent, if at all, do you think this price difference might be justified by the following factors. For each, please use a scale of fully justified, partly justified or not justified at all. Base 1,002

	Fully justified	Partly justified	Not justified at all	Don't know
	%	%	%	%
Higher costs, such as salaries, property prices etc, of those in the UK car trade-unions	7	30	58	5
Conversion to right hand drive	8	26	61	5
Higher specification on UK models	8	27	59	6
Fluctuating exchange rates	7	36	50	8
Greater availability of consumer offers, eg 0% finance,free insurance and longer warranties etc	12	30	53	6
Government charges and taxes	13	30	53	3
Higher profit margins	12	19	64	5

Imagine now that you were considering buying a BRAND NEW car and that you were informed that a specific car marker was charging prices for its cars in Britain, that were not fully justified by factors such as conversion to right hand drive, fluctuating exchange rates etc.

Q5 I am going to read out a number of actions that car buyers might consider taking in those circumstances. For each one please tell me whether YOU would be certain to take that action, very likely,fairly likely, not very likely, not at all likely or certain not to take that action. Base 1,002

	Certain to	Very likely to	Fairly like to	Not very likely	Not at all likely	Certain not to	Don't know
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Refuse to purchase that maker's car	21	20	22	17	8	8	5
Be more aggressive in haggling on the price	29	28	18	12	5	6	3
Buy a used car instead	16	30	27	12	5	7	3
Personally import a car, that is personally drive to mainland Europe and buy a right hand drive car from a dealer there	9	16	24	21	14	13	3

Q6 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don't know/no opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
I would be happy to pay more for a new car if it allows greater levels of dealer service	19	20	6	25	28	2
The risks of personally importing a car from Europe outweigh any cost savings	16	24	8	25	21	6
Car manufacturers should be legally required to lower prices in line with those available to customers on the continent	67	18	4	4	5	1
Dealerships should be able to tell you the equivalent price for all equivalent models if you were to purchase in Europe	70	18	2	5	3	2
Base: 664, All with a car giving an answer
My/our current car will lose resale value if manufacturers drop new car prices to European levels	33	32	6	14	11	4

Technical details

1,002 people aged 15+ Interviewed by telephone between 20-22 August 1999 Spread throughout Great Britain Results weighted