UK auto body wants scrappage scheme to boost new car sales

21 February 2009

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in the UK has stressed the need for an urgent scrappage scheme to breathe life back into the car market.

Paul Everitt, the chief executive of the SMMT, said, ''It is vital that car buyers are given the confidence to buy now and a scrappage incentive scheme is a clear signal which has already proved successful in other EU member states. The UK government must align with Europe and take immediate action to protect its automotive sector.''

Everitt's comments come in the week that BMW laid off 850 works at its Mini plant in Oxfordshire.

A number of European Union member states already have car-scrapping programme in place. Scrappage schemes recently introduced in France and Germany are estimated to generate between 200,000 and 400,000 replacement vehicles.

In Germany, drivers who trade in cars that are more than nine years old will receive €2,500 (£2,200), while motorists in France receive €1,000. Spain has also recently introduced a similar scheme and the car industry expects hundreds of thousands of new cars to be be bought as a replacement for the scrapped vehicles.

In January, the UK government announced that it was considering introducing a 'scrappage' incentive scheme for motorists, designed to help stimulate the ailing car market and accelerate the transition to less-polluting vehicles.