BRUSSELS, July 25 (Reuters) - Attempts to whip up competition in Europe's car market by encouraging shoppers to hop over the border and buy from cheap foreign dealers have not yet made a difference, the European Commission said on Friday.
The Commission said prices still varied widely across the 15-nation bloc, with Europe's two biggest car makers, Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot Citroen , showing the biggest differences in prices for the same models. The EU executive said prices had not converged across the EU because a new law on car sales was not yet in full force. The car industry has to bring the new rules in by October 1, with further liberalisation of dealerships due in 2005.
At the beginning of May, the euro zone's top rate for a Volkswagen Passat was 36.4 percent above the best deal, while Peugeot 106 buyers paid 29.8 percent more than in some member states than in others.
But the widest price difference was for Fiat's Seicento, which cost 45.5 percent more in Austria than in Spain. BMW , DaimlerChrysler , General Motors and -- to a lesser extent -- Renault kept their highest prices within 20 percent of their lowest in the euro zone, the Commission said.
Prices were lowest in Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands and highest in Austria and Germany.
Britain slipped from its position as the most expensive market because of the depreciation of the pound against the euro, although the supplement for right-hand drive models could add around 10 percent to both British and Irish car prices.