“Many buyers want...

“Many buyers want the world to know they are driving a convertible,” explained Jeff Paterson, senior car editor at Glass’s Guide. “And CC models simply don’t say to other people ‘I own a cabriolet’.

“With their hoods in place, they look like regular cars, and buyers feel there is some loss of kudos as a result. They want canvas roofs because it makes a vehicle instantly recognisable as a drop-top.” That means fabric-hooded models such as the Audi A4 and Saab 9-3 won’t be put in the shade by newer models like Volvo’s C70 and the BMW 3-Series. Paterson cited the latest Mazda MX-5 – the traditional soft-top of which is outselling the newer hard roof Roadster Coupé on dealer forecourts – as a good example. “This would suggest canvas is far from dead,” he said.

Glass’s has also found the CC market isn’t behaving as the industry had originally predicted. Most experts expected demand for coupé-cabriolet models to remain fairly constant through the chilly winter months because of their refinement with the hard-top in place. But that hasn’t proved to be the case. “Metal-roofed models are suffer?ing the same seasonal downturn as rag-tops,” added Paterson. “Cars such as the Renault Mégane C-C, Peugeot 206 CC and 307 CC have a similar decline to the likes of the VW Beetle; it starts at the end of Sept?em?ber and doesn’t pick up until April.”

He warned that buyers wanting a convertible for the summer need to get their skates on to avoid paying over the odds. “Now is the time when dealers begin to stock CCs and soft-tops in readiness for the summer selling season. Values will typ?ically rise for two or three months before settling down and then holding steady throughout July and August.”