Scrappage Scheme Still Helping Car Sales

The scrappage scheme has been a hit for the UK motor industry with almost 325,000 cars registered through the program at the end of February 2010. But with less than a month to go there are still 75,000 government issued registrations that can be submitted before the scheme ends in March.

The scheme came into action when the motor industry was struggling from the credit crunch and consumers were being extra cautious about buying anything on credit. The scrappage scheme presented consumers with the incentive of a good return from an old vehicle which tempted many with the lure of a new car or van.

The scrappage scheme helped to guide new car buyers to ´green´ vehicles. This has led to the government and car manufactures managing to bring down the average CO2 emissions of a new car. Cars bought through the scheme on average produce 132.7g/km, 9.9% below the new car market average.

This means the government have been helping to achieve their green targets as well as stimulating interest into the motoring industry. This has been highly beneficial for manufacturers considering the difficult financial time they have endured.

The motor industry now has to try and maintain the improved performances they have seen since the scrappage scheme was introduced. Many manufacturers have already announced that they will continue valuable incentives to consumers to keep the interest high in buying new vehicles. Some manufacturers are even going to carry on with their own privately funded scrappage scheme to try and keep the momentum running.

It will be interesting to see in April how much of the improvement in the market was down to the government scheme enticing buyers back or whether consumers have gained enough stability and confidence in the market to continue purchasing new vehicles without government aid.

published: 11/03/2010