RENAULT'S recent cut price sale of pre-registered vehicles has been 'blown out of all proportion', according to Keith Hawes, the manufacturer's fleet and commercial vehicle operations director. About 1,200 V-reg cars of all specifications were being sold by 13 of the 19-strong Renault UK-owned Renault Retail Group with prices discounted by as much as £4,800.

'It's easy to get hung up about this,' Hawes said. 'The number of cars on sale is not a lot when measured across the whole Renault network. And £4,000 off the retail price has been the norm from our competitors for the last year, particularly in the upper medium sector.'