Research finds southerners love in-car luxuries while northerners prefer ‘basic’ car features
There’s evidence of a north/south divide – in used car data, at least
The north/south divide is alive and well if newly published used car data is to be believed.
Research by car-selling site Wizzle has found that northern buyers opt for fewer optional extras while southerners pile on the luxuries.
Analysing the cars for sale on its site, it discovered that the average price for a used vehicle was much higher in the south than the north when compared with the typical cost of a no-frills base model. The average value of a car in Portsmouth was 25 per cent higher, with those in Newcastle just 8.5 per cent higher.
Wizzle said that when it dug deeper into the results, this was down to the fact that cars sold in the south came with more optional extras included, which helped push the price up. It said there was a “clear pattern” of higher average prices further south.
Wizzle.co.uk founder Sébastien Duval said: “It’s a remarkable example of the famous north-south divide and relative regional economic prosperity is probably the main reason.
“Luxury or technological extras are nice to have but obviously not essential for getting around. So it makes sense for drivers in the less prosperous areas of the country to rein in their spending on options when they’re buying something as expensive as a car.”
Duval also noted that the average price of a base model was fairly consistent across the country, meaning optional extras were clearly behind the higher prices.
Buyers in Bristol proved to be the biggest fans of optional extras, with the average price a whopping 44 per cent above the base model.
