How the family car became a luxury

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“Driving is not a luxury”, Tory backbencher Greg Smith told the House of Commons last month in a debate about contentious clean air zones.

“It is a freedom and a right that all of our constituents should be able to enjoy unencumbered by the state, whether national or local. A weekly shop for a family of five cannot be carried on the back of a bike.”

Twenty years ago there would have been no debate. But in Britain today, driving even modest cars has become a luxury increasingly out of reach of ordinary people.

Indeed, the top specification – yet still very humble – Vauxhall Astra is close to hitting the “expensive car supplement”, better known as the luxury car tax.

So, how did we get here? Will a generation of young people never get their own set of wheels? And what consequences will this have?

The average price of a new car has risen from £18,000 in 2016 to £34,000 in 2026, an increase of 89pc, according to analysis by ALA Insurance. During the same period, wages have risen by just 35pc.

In practical terms, the average new car represented around 33 weeks of gross pay for a typical UK worker in 2016. Now it equates to 47 weeks’ salary before tax.

It’s a similar story in whichever aspect of car ownership you delve into. While insurance costs have fallen since the highs of 2023, they are beginning to creep back up. At the same time, fuel prices have jumped this year – filling up a 60-litre tank one year ago would typically have cost £80, but today it costs £90.

The expense is already having an effect on family life. A survey by CarMoney found that 14pc of shoppers have ditched driving to their usual large supermarket for a weekly big shop because of the cost of car ownership. Instead, they are stocking up from smaller local stores.

It’s a tactic that makes perfect sense when faced with the stark reality of running a car: the average cost of annual ownership now exceeds £11,500, according to ALA Insurance. Ten years ago, the annual sum was £6,500.