SMMT today called for the Consumers’ Association to come clean
on the sale of its car import operation, Carbusters.com. Billed as a non-profit
operation for consumers, the business has just been sold to Bizzbuild.com, generating
£1.3 million for the pressure group. But somewhat bizarrely the Consumers’ Association
described the sale as a ‘win win’ for consumers.
Commenting on the news SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan
said, ‘I am appalled to learn today that an organisation claiming to work for
the benefit of its members should be making over £1 million on a venture which
it described as ‘not for profit’ in February 2000. We call on the Consumers’
Association to end its Great British Rip-Off and give this bonus profit to the
Motor Industry Benevolent Fund (BEN), a genuine not-for-profit charity which
supports more than 13,000 less able people involved in the industry’.
The sale of Carbusters.com comes soon after Autohit, the company
behind Car Price Check, revealed that some cars cost up to £5,000 less at a
UK dealer than they do in mainland Europe. Price comparisons also revealed that
many car firms now offer almost three-quarters of their range at lower prices
here than on the continent.
The research mirrors the fact that thousands of private buyers
have found the best deal on a new car is available from a UK dealer. Lower prices
and longer warranties have raised sales to the private sector by more than 22
per cent in the last six months.
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Notes to Editors
- Demand from private buyers rose 17.2 per cent in March
2001 and by more than 22 per cent in the last six months, accounting for sales
of almost 100,000 additional vehicles. - Motor industry charity BEN currently supports more than
13,000 men, women and children in the motor, cycle agricultural engineering
and allied industries.
