The Euro mobilises the car market
The first step towards a unified
car market in Europe
Munich, Germany (ots)
The introduction of the Euro currency on 1st January 2002 will lead to the alignment of new car prices in Europe and will possibly be the first step towards a unified car market in Europe. This is what Dr. Nicolas Carbonari, founder and manager of the European AutoScout24-Gruppe (www.autoscout24.com), is expecting to happen. Consequently, new vehicles will probably be significantly cheaper in Germany and Austria as the pressure on car dealers increases. Carbonari anticipates that "in the future, there will no longer be huge differences in prices of between 20% and 25% between individual European countries". Consumers will no longer accept the fact that models such as the VW Golf or the Audi A4 are 20% more expensive in Germany than in Finland or Spain for example. Also for the EU competition commissioner, Mario Monti, the huge price differences have been a thorn in his side for a long time.
"With the introduction of the single currency, the European market for car buyers will also become more transparent," says Carbonari explaining the impact on consumers. Customers can then look for the model of their choice according to the cheapest price in Europe without having to laboriously compare and convert ten different currencies. When the customer has found his "bargain", he can then go to his dealer with this price and haggle a little bit. Indeed, some car buyers have already been doing this for a few years now - particularly when searching online for a new or a second-hand car using an independent car portal - but from January it will certainly be easier and clearer to find the cheapest price thanks to the single European currency.
It is expected that the importance of the Internet as a medium for information and comparison for buying cars will grow even more. Carbonari is convinced that "the online car market will grow further as vehicles and buyers can be matched to each other more quickly and easily in this way. This also applies above all for pan-European Internet offers, such as AutoScout24, "which today have already achieved Europe-wide transparency and so anticipate a unified car market for the whole of Europe."
About AutoScout24
AutoScout24 provides Europe-wide access to a database of around 500,000 of all kinds of vehicle for sale at present. Along with the virtual car market, users can also find finance and insurance offers on the site as well as detailed information on the subject of cars and transport
AutoScout24 has opened efficient sales channels for its partners from the automobile industry in the most important European markets. More than 9,000 dealers Europe-wide already use this cross-border opportunity to purchase and sell vehicles among themselves as well as selling to private car buyers.
Contacts Sabine Wilhelm AutoScout24 Deutschland GmbH Rosenheimer Str. 145 e 81671 Munich Tel.: +49 (0)89-450 990-892 Fax: +49 (0)89-470 1774 Email: swilhelm@autoscout24.de
Andreas Reich FAKTOR 3 AG Kattunbleiche 35 22041 Hamburg Tel.: +49 (0)40-679 446-34 Fax: +49 (0)40-679 446-11 Email: autoscout24@faktor3.de
Original content of: AutoScout24, transmitted by news aktuell