The average cash Target Price discount has reduced by more than 22%, in relative terms, over the last quarter as the demand to supply ratio of consumers to available cars remains firmly in the dealers’ favour.This means that buyers can expect to negotiate a typical 4.4% or £1808 per car cash saving in the showroom which is more than 40% (in relative terms) lower than the corresponding month three years ago, prior to the Covid pandemic.Many dealer groups are reporting record profits as consumers’ expectations of buying a new car with a high discount further recede.With the microchip supply crisis expected by many in the trade to start to ease in quarter 2 and quarter 3 of 2022, the hope, among consumer groups, is that a resulting boost in car production will combine with a reduction in consumer demand (as post-pandemic holiday and social activity expenditure increases) and stimulate more price competition between the car makers.Finance-based incentives to support sales within this lower cash discount environment are still evident among manufacturers, but this support is also reducing significantly, down by more than 26% (in relative terms) over the last quarter.Some of these reductions in cash discounting and finance support are to be expected at the start of a new year, as the industry likes to test the level of demand, in the knowledge that they have plenty of time to try to make up for any lack of demand later in the first quarter of the year.Renault dealers are currently the most generous when offering an average cash Target Price discount across a model range at 9.5%, followed by Suzuki at 8.7% and Citroen at 7.8%.Nissan has the biggest reduction in the typically achievable cash Target Price discount, with a 2.5% decrease across the range, down from 9.5% to 7%.[/logged_in]