The car price con?

Bell, David (1982) The car price con? Quarterly Economic Commentary, 7 (4). pp. 34-35. ISSN 0306-7866

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Abstract

British car buyers are beginning to wonder whether they are the victims of a gigantic con trick. Car prices in Europe, they are told, are far lower than they are in the UK. Yet we apparently live inside a free trade area, namely the EEC, within which the market should force rough price equality after allowing for transport costs. Thus it seems that the British car buyer is being duped by the producers into paying far more for a new car than his continental cousins. The brief economic perspective seeks to explain why.