FLEETS face further residual value uncertainty after the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) renewed its battle to force down new car prices, despite a Government investigation last week clearing manufacturers of overcharging.

Talks between the NFDA and the Department of Trade and Industry will take place this month amid claims by the NFDA that the Supply of New Cars Order 2000, intended to slash car prices by 10%, has not created a level playing field between the prices available to fleets and dealers.

But an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation into discounts offered by car suppliers to dealers, prompted by complaints from the NFDA and its dealer members, concluded last week that anti-discrimination rules have not been broken.

Alan Pulham, RMI franchised dealer director, said: 'We are extremely disappointed at the outcome of the OFT's investigation. It is always necessary to get prices lower, particularly when large numbers of people still feel they need to go across the Channel to get lower prices.'

The Supply of New Cars Order 2000 prohibits manufacturers from unjustifiably discriminating between discounts for fleet customers and dealers for the supply of similar volumes of new cars.

The OFT report found that the value of the terms and conditions offered to dealers are broadly similar to those offered to fleet buyers, when all additional benefits are taken into account. But in a statement, it said: 'On a wider front, the OFT remains concerned that unexplained EU price differentials persist.'

However, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders took the statement as a vindication of manufacturers' efforts to cut prices. SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan said: 'This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the market is operating in a competitive and fair way.

'In the days before the publication of the draft rules on Block Exemption, car buyers should be heartened to know that after rigorous examination the industry has been shown to be operating in an open and transparent manner.'