Driven to work

摘要

If you read between the lines of what Paul Smith has to say about the price of cars in the UK today, you would be well-advised to get your order in for your new motor pretty sharpish. As things stand, many car manufacturers, in order to keep up spare capacity, are pushing cars into this country because the rest of Europe is so depressed, and this has meant that the level of discounts has gone up substantially. But according to the 46-year-old finance director of Ford of Britain, the result of upward pressure on prices, through the strengthening euro and improved safety and emissions, could be coming to a showroom near you before too long. 'Because all of our costs are euro-denominated, and the euro has strengthened by 10%-20% over the last couple of years, our margins have really suffered. I think we are getting to the stage in the UK where a lot of manufacturers are starting to look around at the levels of discount they're giving because they're struggling to find it sustainable.' Smith estimates that the effect of the exchange rate differential alone cost Ford in the region of $200m-$300m (￡133m-￡200m) in lost profit last year.