Touring Club Malta

The European Commission has published its latest report on car prices in Europe with prices at 1 January 2009. The report is a service for consumers enabling them to compare car prices across Europe so as to take advantage of the opportunities of the EU Single Market. As in the previous years, car prices continued to decrease significantly in the vast majority of Member States (-3.1% in real terms). As several European currencies devalued strongly against the euro and consumer demand in Member States was hit to different degrees by the economic crisis, price differences between Member States increased.

The Commission has published a six-monthly car price report since 1992. From May 2007 the report is published once a year. This initiative was launched following numerous complaints from consumers about differences in car prices between Member States and obstacles placed in the way of those consumers that wished to buy in another EU country.

The car price report, which is based on standardised data provided by vehicle manufacturers, provides manufacturers’ recommended prices for about 100 car models of 25 different brands. Prices are given both excluding and including taxes, together with prices for the major options and right-hand-drive supplements.