Pressemitteilung

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

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https://www.presseportal.de/pm/13984/308841