THE Volkswagen Group has followed the lead taken by Ford and introduced a price guarantee to customers buying new cars up to the end of the year. It means that anyone buying a new Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda or SEAT will be protected from any price reductions until December 31.

The guarantee was made in letters sent by the companies to their dealer networks. Audi's letter stated: 'We would like to give our customers and potential customers a guarantee that if the retail price of a new Audi drops between September 1 and December 31, we will refund the difference to anyone who has a vehicle delivered between these dates'.

While none of the four arms of the group is planning price cuts, they have given the pledge as a 'reassurance' measure. Volkswagen said its own guarantee was given out 'purely in response to public comments'. Both SEAT and Skoda said their position was the same as Volkswagen and Audi - neither is expecting prices to alter and both were seeking to reassure the public by issuing the guarantee.