Not sure if it's been posted already, but it looks like in a climate no one is buying new cars, the incentive is to put prices up to get you through the door.

BBC NEWS | Business | Ford and Vauxhall raise UK prices

It won't make a difference to the showroom prices. It's a way of Ford and GM to transfer losses from themselves to the dealers. It's an old trick.

0% Finance and 5% Cashback From Vauxhall: Honest John's Best Deals

Could be a good strategy:

Which makes the buyer feel better?

a) a £15,000 car haggled down to £14,000

or

a £15,750 car haggled down to £14,250

But then again a widely publicised price increase will hardly bring the punters into the showroom!

Could be.

But then you have people like me happy with a Favorit and no desire to change to a new "greener" vehicle.