Why are UK Focus prices so high?

We were pleased that most UK prices stacked up well with other EU countries, but the fact that the main exception is our biggest-selling model came as a big disappointment.

We asked Ford why the Focus stood out. A spokesperson said: 'Britain is a high-visual-price/high-discount market. Ultimately, the market determines the transaction price in each segment for each manufacturer.'

In plain English, Ford is telling you to ignore the UK list price and haggle hard for the bigger discounts that are available in the UK. It also says a greater number of promotions bring prices into line with countries like Denmark.

That's fine for a What Car? reader familiar with the achievable discounts we list through our Target Price, but it isn't so good for those who either don't know how much to haggle or who simply aren't much good at bartering.