MOTORISTS in Swindon believe that car prices will increase by up to £3,000 if Britain leaves the EU with no deal - and they may be right.

Around 74 per cent of the 2,000 drivers polled by independent car-buying site carwow revealed that they expected car prices to increase significantly if the UK exits the European Union without making any deals with it.

The site used a comprehensive collection of published data to develop a tool which predicts how and by how much the price of new cars would change in the event of a hard Brexit.

The highest predicted increases would be for BMWs (£8,850) and Audis (£8,137).

The tool expects the cost of a new Honda to rise by £2,676, a new Hyundai would cost £2,268 more, a Fiat would be £3,225 extra, and a Citroen's price would soar by £3,942.

Other vehicles fared slightly better but would still see a price rise in the UK - Ford would be £727 more, Mini cars would be £644 more, and Vauxhalls would cost £631 more.

Alex Rose, trading and supply operations director at carwow, said: “The one certainty about Brexit is that things are not going to get better for the car industry quickly and the car buying public are feeling apprehensive - they have been for some time now. The prices being put on new models in the aftermath of Brexit vary wildly, which is why we have tried to give motorists some clarity with our price prediction tool. However, the flip side of all of this is that the uncertainty around post March car prices and the great deals to be had in the next five weeks mean this is an opportune time to buy a new car.”

To try the price prediction tool, visit carwow.co.uk/car-prices-after-brexit