ACCORDING to Powys County Council (PCC), purchasing a brand new Audi and then reselling it a year later after 20,000 miles will only cost £2,592.

PCC has dismissed criticisms that the vehicle will cost £37,000 as “nonsense.”

The Audi A6 SE Executive 2.0 TDi Ultra was deemed necessary because it is an automatic, a feature that chairman Councillor Dai Davies physically requires, that was unavailable on the previous vehicle.

The council is claiming its research has indicated a cost of less than £3,000 after resale, and that this would be cheaper than hiring, leasing or having the chairman use his own car.

PCC Leader Cllr Rosemarie Harris said: “The role of chairman of Powys County requires a car to carry out civic duties effectively. The current chairman has a physical disability which means he needs an automatic car, something that was not available on the previous vehicle.

“The council investigated a number of financial options including annual hire, lease and purchase, with outright purchase taken up because it was the most cost-effective and provided the best value for money for the authority.

“Our research showed that the total cost of providing an Audi A6 after taking into account resale was £2,592 compared to £6,475 lease costs for the same model Skoda Superb used in the past. The full cost to the council of paying mileage to the chairman would have been £7,000 if he had travelled 20,000 miles – an average distance for the post.

“When investigating the financial viability of any project the council has a duty to compare full-term costs to ensure value for money.”

Currently, a year-old Audi A6 2.0 TDi (2016) with over 20,000 miles on the clock fetches between £21,500 and £28,000 on the website Autotrader though there are other avenues for vehicle resale.

Additionally, a motion is being brought before the full council on Thursday, calling for the purchase or lease of a chairman’s vehicle to be scrapped.

The motion has been proposed by the Plaid Cymru – Green group leader on the council, Cllr Elwyn Vaughan, seconded by Cllr Bryn Davies.

Critical of the purchase, Cllr Vaughan said: “The impression is that the this authority doesn’t care about its people, the services, as they are not important.

“But that councillors are important.

“Everybody knows that people see politicians as merely looking after themselves, this decision with such a car for a single beneficiary merely confirms this perception.”