Vauxhall cuts prices and moves online

Vauxhall joined the rush by car companies to cut prices by taking up to 12 per cent off the list price of its models yesterday.

Vauxhall joined the rush by car companies to cut prices by taking up to 12 per cent off the list price of its models yesterday.

More significantly, the company also announced that from November 9 it would sell its models on the internet. Prices of models sold on the Web are expected to be even lower than those announced yesterday.

The Vauxhall cuts follow a similar move by rival Ford, which last week cut up to 13 per cent off the recommended retail price of new models.

The Ford deal, however, coincided with the end of a "cashback" scheme that knocked as much as £3,000 off prices. This meant that some Ford models were actually more expensive than they had been during the cashback initiative.

Vauxhall, too, is ending a similar cashback scheme, but the company promised that no models would be more expensive under its new price regime.

The cuts will mean a Vauxhall Astra will fall on average by 9 per cent in price, with an Astra 1.6 16-valve SXi coming down by about £1,500.