You can buy a Dacia Duster and a Dacia Spring for the price of a top-spec Vauxhall Corsa

What follows below aren’t predicted new-car prices to be visited upon us in a nightmarish, wallet-busting future. Instead, they’re what some premium and non-premium manufacturers are already charging for some of their products. 

Circa £35,000 superminis, £50k mid-sized hatchbacks, £80k six-seat MPVs, £90k workhorse 4x4s, £100k seven-seat SUVs and swanky off-roaders nudging £200k have already arrived. 

But honestly, is a range-topping Vauxhall Corsa the wisest product to spend £35k on? Might a better option be a Dacia Spring runabout (from £15k) PLUS a Dacia Duster SUV 4x2 (£17k) to keep it company? 

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a fine car. But the N version has a daftly-optimistic £65k price tag. And even the lower/mid-range version is £47,645 – around the same money as the VW Golf (from £27k) AND cutting-edge Hyundai Inster (£22k-ish) combined.

The Kia EV9 was designed as a seven-seater, with most versions costing well over £70k. But, counter intuitively, the range-topping version has only six pews and when ordered with matt paint it’s an even steeper £79k. The Dacia Jogger (from £18k) remains such good value that four can be bought (with a total of 28 seats) for less than a range-topping EV9 (fitted with just six). That’s bonkers. 

I’ve driven Jeep Grand Cherokees across the Andes and over frozen rivers and lakes deep inside the Arctic Circle. I was so impressed with their durable, go-anywhere capabilities that I bought and ran one as my winter wheels. But the £86k demanded for the latest version is outrageous. A bargain alternative is an all-new, top-of-the-range, 53mpg ‘Extreme’ version of the Dacia Duster 4x4 at a mere £25k. Three of these for £11k less than a Grand Cherokee – how on earth did Stellantis, Jeep’s latest owner, allow this to happen?      

A similar question needs to be asked of Geely. The Chinese firm owns and controls Volvo, which has announced that its EX90 seven-seat SUV will cost £100k – a price few, if any, observers or potential buyers consider to be justifiable. At the same time, BYD has weighed in with its five-seat Seal U SUV that’s a few inches shorter, looks as good (if not better) and can be had for £67k LESS. Yup, that’s three BYDs for about the same price as one Volvo.  

As for swanky, top-of-the-range, LWB Range Rovers at almost £200k apiece – I like ’em! But not as much as I’d like a diverse and more affordable collection, comprising a £55k Porsche Macan, £59k VW ID. Buzz, the two latest Car of the Year winners, the £22k Citroen e-C3 and £25k-ish Renault 5, with a £25k Duster 4x4 on permanent standby for UK roads occasionally blanketed by snow or ice. 

I’m telling you: reasonably-priced cars costing the same or less than one car with an excessive price tag are a reality. So exploit them while you can. 

Do you agree with Mike? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section...