Today’s car market is absolute chaos, and that spells opportunity for the clever buyer

The problems facing the car industry keep stacking up: new competition from China, Government pressure to go electric, threats of tariffs, and a customer base that’s as confused as it is cash-strapped.

It’s enough to make even the most balanced car company board member retreat to the executive washroom, bury their head in the monogrammed Egyptian cotton hand towels and have a good, long scream.

While hair is being torn out in meeting rooms throughout the automotive world, opportunities are presenting themselves for the canny car buyer. Makers still need to sell cars – these vehicles will be rolling off the production line regardless, and if customers aren’t biting, there’s a pressing need to sweeten the bait.

That’s why we’re seeing increasingly tempting finance offers and some serious price-cutting on brand-new cars. If you’ve been paying attention to Auto Express over recent months, you’ll know about the ZEV mandate and its requirement for makers to ensure that 22 per cent of the new cars they sold in 2024 were electric. In 2025 it’ll be 28 per cent, and it’ll be 80 per cent by 2030.

This is why top brands are slashing electric car prices, and why, if you were to walk into a showroom this weekend and express a tentative interest in buying a new electric car, you’d be engulfed in a swarm of eager sales personnel faster than you could say “deposit contribution”.

Of course, plummeting prices for new electric cars are having their own impact on the EVs bought for top dollar three years ago and now emerging onto the second-hand market. New EVs have got a lot better, with longer ranges and superior efficiency, as well as being more numerous, so ageing ex-company cars are also having to be priced competitively to sell.

The high levels of depreciation are a big headache for fi nance companies, who own the cars and rely on future residual-value predictions to set their prices. Depreciation issues also add to the uncertainty among consumers, who just don’t know whether to take the plunge on an EV or stick with familiar petrol and diesel models.

What we know is that the turmoil has at least partially removed what was previously cited as the biggest single barrier to EV ownership for most people – the price. If you choose wisely, right now is the best time ever to pick up a new or used EV for a song, doing your bit for those poor stressed-out car industry executives in the process.

Did you know you can sell your car with Auto Express? Get the highest bid from our network of over 5,500 dealers and we'll do the rest. Click here to try Auto Express Sell My Car now...