Christmas Trees Chopped Down To Size - '1 In 12 Plan Not To Deck The Halls At All'

LUTON, United Kingdom – December 9, 2008: This year credit-crunched Brits plan to spend 27 per cent less on Christmas decorations than last year. The festive tree will be the first thing to suffer, as a third of people (32 per cent) say they plan to reduce the size of their Christmas fir. One in twelve (8 per cent) who traditionally put up decorations say that they won’t bother to put any up at all this year.

Research by Chevrolet, the carmaker synonymous with value-for-money, revealed that each family will spend an average of £56.88 on decorations compared to the £77.45 they spent last Christmas. The biggest victim of the credit crunch will be the family tree, which will be at least six inches shorter than last year, as people cut back on costs. In addition to this, a miserly half (fifty per cent) of Brits say they are cutting back on the number of greeting cards that they send this year.

In an effort to bring at least some of the festive cheer back into family living rooms, Chevrolet has pledged to giveaway a boot-full of Christmas decorations – including a free Christmas tree – to any motorist buying one of its Chevrolet Lacetti models*.

Les Turton of Chevrolet comments:

“With people watching the pennies in all areas of life, it’s understandable that the size of our Christmas trees are shrinking this year and that people will be cutting back on decorations. We’re hoping to spread some festive cheer by not only offering value-for-money deals on the Chevrolet range, but also giving away a free tree and bootful of decorations to anyone buying a Lacetti in the run up to Christmas”**.

People from the North West of England are cutting back on the cost of decorations spending over 50 per cent (52 per cent) less than last year. Families in the South East are feeling more festive however and are only cutting back on their Christmas spend by 11 per cent, closely followed by families in London who are cutting back by 12 per cent from last year. Yorkshire families are giving their Christmas trees the biggest chop with the average height being reduced by ten inches.