Prices of new cars before local taxes are slowly converging, says the European Commission.
Its latest report on the issue shows that, while differences between certain countries and particularly for certain models, are still significant, the gap is closing. In the euro zone, pre-tax prices are generally lowest in Finland and highest in Germany.
The report shows that Irish prices rose 1.2 per cent last year, below the headline inflation rate for the period. Looking at the EU as a whole, cars are less expensive on average in the new member states, with Estonia cheapest.
But price differences for particular models between the cheapest and most expensive member states can still be substantial.
Of the 1,909 prices quoted in the report, 598 exceed by more than 20 per cent the cheapest market in the EU. The widest difference is for the Opel Astra, which is almost 50 per cent dearer in Germany than in Denmark.
This represents a potential saving of €3,700 for the German consumer (including VAT) buying in Denmark.