MANUFACTURERS are split on whether the new £25 first registration fee, which came into force on April 1, will be included in on-the-road pricing. The fee - which the Inland Revenue has confirmed will not be taken into account for for benefit-in-kind taxation purposes - is being included by some car-makers and excluded by others.

Ford, Renault, Mitsubishi and BMW, for example, say they will include the fee in on-the-road prices, while Rover said that this would be the case for most cars, although it would cover the cost for some special edition models.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, will not include it in on-the-road price lists, but will add a note to customers that they need to add it on, and a Vauxhall spokesman said the fee would not be included in its standard delivery charges.

A Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders spokesman said no guidelines had been issued to members on whether the £25 fee would be included in on-the-road pricing. 'The use of on-the-road prices was a move to make car buyers' lives easier by saying this is the total price you will pay,' he said.

'The SMMT has not given any guidelines to manufacturers on whether they should include the new fee in on-the-road prices, but I would imagine they will. However, they will probably highlight it in some way and point out that this is not something that is going into manufacturers' pockets but directly to the Government.'