Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2000/03/28/stop_the_great_british_car/

Stop the Great British Car Rip-Off

Lobby group launches online motor retailer

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 28th March 2000 11:33 GMT

The Consumers' Association has started flogging cars over the Net in its bid to clampdown on what it calls the "Great British Car Rip-Off". The not-for-profit organisation will accept orders online from today before importing the cars from the Continent where they are considerably cheaper. Carbusters.com has been on trial over the last three months and during that time 83 cars have been ordered online. The haul - worth £1.5 million - delivered a saving of £270,000 on the UK list price for the vehicles. Sheila McKechnie, director of Consumers' Association, said: "Carbusters.com will put the manufacturers' unfair pricing regime further under the spotlight and will at long last give the public the opportunity to beat the manufacturers and buy cars at a fair price." A spokeswoman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that e-commerce was changing the shape of the industry. Even though carbusters.com can deliver discounts of between £3000-4000 per motor, the spokeswoman said that this did not pose a threat. "It's just competition," she said. ® Related Story Big dealer flogs cheapo car imports on the Net