Australian Car Prices

**ABCD** · 02-10-2018, 04:58 AM

Thought I would test out the claim that car prices in Australia are the highest in the world. I recently took delivery of a manual GTI with metallic paint and DAP and paid a tad over $45K driveaway. I priced up the virtually identical car on the UK VW site and this came in at £33345 drive away, which at current exchange rates is about $60K!!! In the Republic of Ireland, where I know there are pretty hefty taxes on vehicles especially petrol engined ones, the same car came in at €46K or about $75K!!!!

**Paul_R** · 02-10-2018, 09:27 AM

VW cars in Aus have been well priced against UK versions for a long time. At first UK cars look cheaper but they come with nothing in them. By the time you option up all the things we get included - like cruise control etc - we come out on top.

Where Aus buyers lose out is in the rarified air well above the luxury car tax threshold. Try your experiment with a 911 and see how you go...

Addit: even try comparing Audi S3 vs Golf R pricing in UK and Aus. You should find the S3 much closer in price to the Golf in the UK as Audi have priced themselves up market in Australia.

**Splashalot** · 02-10-2018, 11:31 AM

I specced a GTI on the VW Germany configurator to be roughly equivalent to Aus spec and was gobsmacked at the price. Can't remember the exact figure but from memory ~$10k over Aus price.

**BenT** · 02-10-2018, 02:12 PM

What about an R Grid?

https://www.carsales.com.au/demo/det...AG-AD-16289105

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**crainger** · 02-10-2018, 04:06 PM

I was ok with the price I paid for my GTI. Canada seems to get some great pricing, although Canada, like a lot of regions seem to find the GTI and the R not too far apart. Where as I got my loaded GTI 10k under what the R was at the time. This was before the Grid was thrown into the mix.

**Umai Naa!!** · 02-10-2018, 04:42 PM

There's not a lot of margin in them here, either.

Where they make a lot of it back is through accessories, servicing, and parts.

**Dutch77** · 02-10-2018, 07:32 PM

New margins still average ~ 10% for a new car department, at least towards the mid and upper level. Presumably would be a few points lower in the lower levels.

Finance and insurance are the other big money spinners for a lot of dealerships these days. Back ten years or so ago when the world economy was crumbling Ford Credit was worth more than the car bit.

**Ozsko** · 02-10-2018, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by ABCD

Thought I would test out the claim that car prices in Australia are the highest in the world. I recently took delivery of a manual GTI with metallic paint and DAP and paid a tad over $45K driveaway. I priced up the virtually identical car on the UK VW site and this came in at £33345 drive away, which at current exchange rates is about $60K!!! In the Republic of Ireland, where I know there are pretty hefty taxes on vehicles especially petrol engined ones, the same car came in at €46K or about $75K!!!!

Try pricing it in Singapore, Oz prices are nothing compared to them. We are pretty lucky, Scandanavian countries are hugely expensive as well.