CAR dealers remained open throughout the weekend to deal with the surge of interest from buyers flocking to their doors following the recent change in tax legislation, which has slashed the cost of new cars.
Showroom windows were buzzing with people until as late as 7pm on both Saturday and Sunday as excited salesmen reported activity up by at least 500 per cent.
“Never before has there been such huge interest,” said a salesman at Char. Pilakoutas Ltd’s BMW showroom. “We are very happy the new law was passed and that more people are starting to buy cars again.”
Under the new legislation, cars will be taxed according to engine capacity with six categories of saloon and 4×4 cars. Vans for private use will be divided into the same six categories but will be taxed at a much lower rate. Pick-up trucks will continue to be taxed, irrespective of engine size, at a flat rate of £0.50 per cc.
Cyprus Import Cooperation Ltd, the general distributors of Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars said the commotion resembled “a wedding”.
“There were so many people coming to the showroom on both Saturday and Sunday to get a feel for the market and the new prices,” a company salesman said yesterday. “There were a few sales, but the majority of sales are taking place today and should continue throughout the week.”
This comes as no surprise, with the popular Mercedes C Class 200 Kompressor dropping over £10,000 to £23,500 and the E200 Kompressor plunging £13,200 to settle at a more affordable price of £28,800.
The A-Class 1.4 is also down from £14,000 to £11,600 and the CLK 200K is now £29,500 as compared to the old price of £47,000. The biggest drop probably comes from the luxurious SL 350, which was once £135,000 but was yesterday selling at £88,000.
Only the ML 270 CDI suffered a blow, up £10,000 to £54,000. This, however, did not dent the salesmen’s mood.
“In the past, people used to import used Mercedes cars from abroad. I don’t see them doing that any more because there’s such a lot of interest in the new cars now,” he said.
And, he added Smart car fans would be pleased to hear the compact vehicle was down £2,400 to £7,500, from its previous price of £9,900.
S & G Colocasides, who import Ford, also noted a remarkable increase in showroom activity.
“There was a 500 per cent increase in activity,” said Andros Heras. “People kept coming in over the weekend to ask about prices and different car models.”
The three-door Ford Ka 1.3 is now £6,500, down from £7,500 and the new Fiesta 1.3 and 1.4 have dropped to £6,950 and £7,750, from £9,450 and £10,100 respectively.
Heras’ colleague Solonas Solomonides said the past six months had suffered a slump in sales but that had changed as soon as the new legislation had gone through.
“People are still cautious and comparing prices, but by the end of the week there will be a definite increase in sales,” he said.
Heras added: “Nonetheless, we are very satisfied with how things are going.”
Opel, Chevrolet and Vauxhall importers, Pavlides Geo & Araouzos Ltd, said the “increase of interest shown in the showrooms was positive”.
“Hordes of people were basically window shopping over the weekend and comparing prices. Following the attractive and significant decrease in tax, people are now genuinely interested in buying new cars instead of used ones as in the past and our sales have already started to pick up.” No doubt, the popular Opel Astra Cabrio 1.6 will start to adorn the streets more, since its old price of £18,400 was much steeper than its new price of £13,900. The Signum Cosmo 2.2 AYT is also more affordable at £25,400 than its previous price of £39,000, as is the five-door Vectra 2.2 GTS AUT at £21,900, down from £30,300.
Antonis Frangos at Renault-Eurovec said showrooms across the board had experienced increased activity this weekend because “the prices are now reasonable”. For instance the Megane 1.4 Hatchback is now £8,800 from £10,950, the Clio 1.4 is £7,900 down from £9,400 and the Espace 2.0 is £24,900 down from £33,000.
“Combine that with the fact that people have waited months to see what would happen before they bought a car, you end up with an increase in interest and subsequent sales,” he said.
