New car sales jumped 19% in Germany last month compared with the same month last year as the the government’s car scrapping scheme began to take effect. German motorists get €2,500 (about £2,200) if they trade in their old car for a new and more environmentally friendly one. The move was designed to boost the country’s flagging auto industry, and seems to be working. So much so that our own government has decided to launch a scheme here too.
In his last budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled plans to give UK drivers of cars more than ten years old £1,000 if they swap their old banger for a shiny new motor. The aim is that the new car’s maker matches that amount with another £1,000, leaving British motorists with, in effect, a £2,000 guaranteed trade-in price. Eight of the leading ten car brands in Britain have committed to the scheme, says The Daily Telegraph.
However, not everyone is enthusiastic. Pendragon, Britain’s biggest car dealership, says the scheme will have “very little if any” impact on sales because of its half-baked nature. The car industry was already offering its own incentives, said the firm’s CEO, Trevor Finn, well before the government came along.
For example, Citroën is already running its own £2,000 scrappage scheme while Nissan is starting to offer deals for eight-year-old cars. So, “are car manufacturers going to increase incentives over and above their current levels? It’s very difficult to see how that’s going to happen.” The scheme is due to expire in March 2010 when the £300m funding runs out.
So if you want a new car in the driveway, and you have an old one that is fully MOT’d and was first registered before 31 July 1999, get cracking.