Car price cuts 'not enough' claims Oneswoop

Online car dealer Oneswoop.com has criticised UK government plans to slash the average price of buying a new car, saying they don't go far enough.

Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Stephen Byers yesterday unveiled a government scheme which he claims will cut the average car price by £1000 and collectively save UK private car buyers around £1bn a year.

Byers said the new rules, which will come into force in September, will introduce greater competition in the supply and sale of cars. This will enable dealers to buy cars outright at cheaper prices.

However, Oneswoop believes the measures will do little to help the UK car buyer, and said car prices in the UK remain too high compared with the rest of Europe. The company claims that car buyers will "continue to get a raw deal" even with the price reductions promised by the government.

"The measures are simply tinkering with the market by attempting to end certain parts of the preferential discounting practices that are endemic in the UK," said Hugh Morris, chief executive of Oneswoop. "The real issue is that there is still far too much cost left in the system by which cars are congenitally supplied to the consumer."

Morris claims that although the measures are a move in the right direction, internet-based retailing approaches will continue to offer cars for much lower prices than the DTI targets, and will also offer vastly improved customer services.

Oneswoop, which was launched in March, enables consumers to buy a car from a virtual showroom. The site takes care of delivery, registration and importing. Earlier this month Direct Line, the company behind online car buying service Jamjar.com, reported that its service had recorded first week sales of more than £1m.