The Ford Fiesta has held on to the number one spot in CAP Automotive’s ‘Total Cost of Motoring’ consumer research charts but the top 10 is dominated by German brands, with BMW, Volkswagen and Audi taking six out of the top 10 places.

Thousands of motorists consult CAP's car running costs bible ‘Total Cost of Motoring’ to get an insight into today’s car values and tomorrow’s depreciation, fuel and servicing costs.

CAP charts the enquiries at www.cap.co.uk/consumer to understand the purchase intentions of up to 100,000 consumers a month who are in the market to change their car.

The latest data released by CAP reveals that the Ford Fiesta remains the car most motorists are most interested in researching the long term running costs for – mirroring its status as the most successful new car in the UK market.

The Ford Focus also continues to ride high in the charts, slipping just one place to number four in consumers’ ownership cost investigations.

But, aside from one new entry by Nissan – at number three with the diesel Qashqai – every other car in the top 10 is a BMW, Volkswagen or Audi.

CAP believes consumers now understand the impact of car depreciation and the reputation of BMW, Volkswagen and Audi for holding their value accounts for such a high level of interest in their long-term running costs.

Philip Nothard, retail and consumer expert at CAP, said: “Our independent ‘Total Cost of Motoring’ forecasts consistently reveal that depreciation is the biggest drain on your budget over the ownership period of any car.

“German brands enjoy a reputation among motorists for holding their value and that explains why so many of the people looking at CAP’s projected ownership costs are looking into the affordability of a BMW, Volkswagen or and Audi.”

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