• Drivers could collectively save £28.5 million – the same as the cost of a Premiership defender – if all 7500 cars analysed by What Car? were bought at its Target PCP Price and with the best available finance deposit contribution
• Buyers taking out PCP deals fare best, with 37% of total savings coming from finance deposit contributions
• Recent rises in discounted prices for SUVs have brought these sought-after models within reach of deal-savvy buyers
• What Car?’s online New Car Buying service provides a Target Price for every car and links buyers with dealers willing to match or beat them

 A whopping £28.5 million in new car savings is available this month, according to What Car? Target Price.

The savings are the total achievable if all 7500 cars analysed by the consumer title’s mystery shoppers were bought at its Target PCP Price and with the best available finance deposit contribution.

In total, the possible savings amount to the same that Everton recently paid for defender Yerry Mina or the most expensive property sale recorded by the Land Registry, for a home in Kensington & Chelsea, last month.

In general, shoppers opting for manufacturer finance deals, such as Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) agreements, benefit significantly more than cash buyers; shoppers paying cash can expect to negotiate an average 8% discount – or £2545 – off their car’s list price, whereas those signing up to PCP deals can get another £1478 in deposit allowances. ^†

And deals in the booming SUV market are finally becoming more readily available; in particular, discounts in the large SUV sector have leapt 23% in the last 12 months, with savings of nearly 10% possible on even prestige models such as the Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLS and Volvo XC60.

The average discount on a large SUV now stands at £3087, up from £2502 this time last year.

What Car?’s New Car Buying website uses mystery shoppers to highlight the best new car deals, setting a Target Price as the most you should pay for a car. It then links online users with retailers willing to match or beat that Target Price.

What Car? editor, Steve Huntingford, said: “The total amount of money that buyers could save if every single car was sold at Target Price is staggering and, tellingly, 37% of the total savings possible – or £10.5m – come from finance deposit contributions.

“It’s significant that bigger discounts are also now becoming available in the SUV sector – the strength of the SUV market in recent years has meant that dealers have been able to protect their margins, and discounts on large SUVs are still the second lowest of all segments.

“But savvy shoppers can now get good deals on even high-end cars such as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Jaguar F-Pace.”

Overall, Citroen, Seat and Volkswagen are the manufacturers offering the top average cash discounts.

Top 10 manufacturer discounts in the last month^†

Model	Discount (%)
Fiat Tipo 1.4 Easy	28.8%
Vauxhall Astra 1.4i 16v SE	23.2%
Seat Toledo 1.0 TSI110 SE	22.7%
Mercedes-Benz SL 400 AMG Line 9G-Tronic	22.6%
Vauxhall Mokka X 1.4T EcoTEC Active	21.5%
Volkswagen Passat Estate 1.4 TSI 150 S	21.0%
Citroen C4 Spacetourer models	20.5%
Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Titanium Navigation (prior model)	20.1%
Volkswagen Golf SV models	19.0%
Volkswagen Touran models	18.3%