You can buy a new car for less than the cost of some mobile contracts, so it’s little wonder business is booming. With this in mind, the guys at Motoring Research hunted down 20 of the best cars you can buy for less than £200 per month. Please note these deals are indicative and correct at the time of preparation. In all cases, the mileage restrictions and length of contract may vary. In the majority of cases the deals are based on a Personal Contract Plan (PCP) agreements.

Volkswagen is keen to get punters back into its dealers, which is why it’s offering the Polo Beats for £139 per month on a personal contract hire plan. It’s spread across 47 monthly payments and subject to a £2,478 initial rental.

It might not be the sharpest supermini in the sector, but now is a great time to buy an Alfa Romeo MiTo. It’s possible to spend £169 or £179 a month, but we’re rather taken by the MiTo Distinctive which, after a deposit of £2,224, is yours for £189 a month over a four-year period.

Fancy a cut-price Range Rover Evoque? The Suzuki Vitara is a convincing(ish) alternative and right now the SZ4 could be yours for £165 a month. You’re limited to 6,000 miles a year and the deposit is £2,028.

Another PCP deal that could lead us into temptation. The Suzuki Swift Sport remains our junior hot hatch of choice and right now it’s available for £175 a month. Be warned: after 48 months you might be so in love with the car, you’ll need to find the £4,328 required for the final payment.

Face it, you’re probably not going to cover huge miles in a Smart Fortwo, so the 7,000-mile per annum restriction in this offer is no big deal. An advance payment of £1,874 is followed by a monthly fee of £99. Note, there is no ownership option. Alternatively, take a look at the finance/insurance deal Smart is offering young drivers.

Another tempting offer from Suzuki, the Celerio 1.0 SZ2 available for £79 a month. The deposit is £1,918 and you can decide whether or not to stump up £2,322 at the end of the 43-month agreement.

If it’s good enough for Harry Kane, it’s good enough for you, right? While we’d prefer a Ford Fiesta ST, the thought of a Corsa VXR in Flash Blue for £195 a month is seriously tempting. What’s more, the advance rental is just £1,170. The length of the personal lease is 48 months.

The Hyundai i10 is quite simply one of the best city cars you can buy and the SE 1.0 is available for £112.77 a month with a £1,748.75 deposit. Alternatively, a deposit of £3,997.50 results in a remarkable monthly payment of £28.05. In both cases, you’re restricted to 8,000 miles per annum.

The recently revised MG3 offers excellent value for money and whether you choose the 3Time, 3Form, 3Form Sport or 3Style, you won’t spend more than £200 a month. Our money would be on the top-spec 3Style at £169 per month and a deposit of £1,658.65. Personal contract plan is over 36 months and based on 10,000 miles per annum.

Not to be confused with the much-loved family car of the 60s and 70s, the new Viva is Vauxhall’s budget car for the new millennium. You can drive away in a Vauxhall Viva SL in Sparkling Blue paint for £129 per month, following a deposit of £1,499. This is based on 48 months and 8,000 miles per annum.

This is one of our favourite new car deals. You can order an electric Renault Zoe Dynamique Nav for a deposit of £1,499 and 24 monthly payments of £109. The dealer will contribute £6,000 to the agreement, but you’ll have to spend at least £55 a month on battery hire.

A great offer from Skoda. Take out a 42-month, 35,000-mile Solutions Personal Contract Plan and the Skoda Fabia Colour Edition 1.0 could be yours for £155 a month. The deposit is £1,395.40, but if you’re prepared to spend just shy of £3,445.40, the monthly fee drops to £105.

The Mazda2 is really rather good and right now you can order one for £169 a month. The deposit is £1,771, but if you spend more you can bring the monthly fee down to £119. Even a zero deposit equates to just £218.19 a month.

This has to be one of the best deals in the UK. Why spend £7,295 on a Dacia Sandero Ambiance Prime 1.2 when it’s available a mere £94 a month? The deposit is just £972 and the PCP agreement runs for four years.

Not only is the Skoda Citigo one of our favourite city cars, it also received the maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. It might be a small car, but this is a big deal, with the Citigo Colour Edition available for £119 a month after a deposit of just £592.50. Spend more on the deposit and you could be paying £75 a month. We’d give up our daily takeaway coffee for that.

The Fiat Panda Easy+ is a special edition featuring 15-inch alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, air conditioning, special decals and a Blue&Me hands-free multimedia system. It’s yours for £139 a month after a deposit of £499.

The SsangYong Tivoli was one of the most surprising new cars of 2015, offering a terrific blend of specification and value. The Tivoli SE is available for £199 a month and a deposit of £199, but we’d be tempted to spend £249 a month on the well-equipped ELX model.

The feature-packed SEAT Ibiza SC FR 1.2 TSI offers 16-inch alloys, FR styling, sports seats and suspension, plus sat nav with Bluetooth. It could be yours for a £199 deposit and £199 per month across 48 months.

What’s not to like about this? The two-wheel drive Duster Ambiance Prime is available for £174 a month after a small deposit of £1,562. It’s based on a four-year deal and the optional final payment is £4,232.

We’ll stick with Skoda for a minute, because the excellent Yeti Outdoor SE 1.2 TSI is available for £199 a month. Skoda will contribute £1,000 to the deposit, but you’ll have to fork out £2,037.33. If you’re prepared to spend more on the deposit, you can drive away for £135 a month.