BMW in Oxford is now laying off workers due to a fall in sales, and is blaming it on the credit crunch.

But if it wants to sell more cars it should drop its prices considerably.

Fleet buyers typically pay about one third less than the full retail price asked for by the main dealers.

We British pay far more for our cars, our gas, our food, our electricity, and just about everything else, than our European neighbours.

If BMW, and all the other car makers, can sell cars at a large discount to other favoured customers and still make a profit, then it should drop the prices it charges to the general public. This would allow everyone to move up to a better car, increase sales of new cars, and help boost manufacturing.

It would also get rid of some of the polluting old bangers and keep the workforce busy while still contributing to the economy, instead of being unemployed and living off benefits – which is a further drain on the country’s finances.

I firmly believe in the market trader principle, of ‘stack ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap’, as it is better and more profitable to sell 10 at a £10 profit than one at a £50 profit.

This will probably never happen, as greed is still king in this country.

TONY ANCHORS, Drake Avenue, Didcot