The Prestige Car is Number One choice in UK

With consumer finances tight in Britain and a new car not high on the priority list for many people, austerity watchers may no doubt be surprised to find out that “prestige” car sales are steadily on the rise. An analysis recently carried out revealed that despite declining economic standards and improving mass market vehicles, the current generation of motorists has continued to shy away from the ever popular makes such as Ford and Vauxhall, and are instead buying fancier name vehicles. That means prestige car marques such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi now make up approximately a quarter of all new car sales in the UK.

These more expensive makes of motors only made up ten percent of new car sales 20 years ago, and while the perception of German motor quality still stands firm, cheaper more mass market perception marques, such as Ford and Vauxhall are judged to have delivered huge improvements to their cars over the same period.

That reflects how British car buyers are happy to pay a premium to get the “right” brand of prestige car.

The gains of the prestige sector have been to the detriment of the mass market brands. The mass market sector has fallen from 88 per cent to 66 per cent, a loss of nearly a quarter of the market, in just 20 years.

Worryingly for the big players of the mass market sector, they’ve been unable to stem the tide as more as more Britons decide to pay that bit extra and go for a prestige car brand.

One massive advantage for those buying a new car with their own money, is that prestige cars values are in something of a virtuous circle, with the perception of better quality leading to lower depreciation. A recent report found that German marks dominated a list of the cars that lose the least value over a three-year period.

The top prestige car models that sold the most in the UK last year are as follows:

• Mercedes S-Class saloon
• BMW 7 Series saloon
• Porsche Panamera hatchback
• Audi A8 saloon
• Jaguar XJ saloon
• Rolls-Royce Ghost saloon
• Bentley Continental Flying Spur saloon
• Lexus LS saloon.

Our Season Cars fleet is filled with prestige cars, why not hire your favourite to give it a trial run.