Was the car scrappage scheme a success?
With time now officially called on the UK government’s year-long car scrappage scheme, it’s possible to look back and assess its impact. Did it really provide the much-needed boost to the UK car market that it was designed to?
The scheme which offered motorists a £2,000 discount if they traded in a car over 10 years old for a new one seemed destined to be a win-win proposal from the outset. Not only could drivers bag themselves a brand new car at a fabulous discounted price, manufacturers and retailers could rely on the scheme bringing them in the trade they so badly needed.
And the figures which have emerged so far confirm the project’s unmitigated success, with more than 330,000 cars sold as a direct result and an overall annual increase of 26.6% on the sale of new cars. It’s also thought that around 4,000 manufacturer and supplier jobs were saved by the scheme.
Unforeseen benefits
An interesting and unexpected side-effect of the scheme has been the reduction of CO2 emissions. With hundreds of thousands of old cars removed from the road and new greener cars with improved eco-credentials introduced in their place, the environment has also felt the benefit to a certain extent.
Looking ahead
Although the scrappage scheme has helped to limit the damage done to the UK car industry throughout the recession, many experts now worry that the latter half of 2010 may prove a more test time for manufacturers and traders.
In anticipation of the withdrawal of the scheme, many of the major manufacturers have launched their own ‘swappage’ schemes. These give motorists a similarly large discount on the price of a new car in exchange for their old banger and it’s hoped that this may go some way to fill the gap left by the scheme.
Only time will tell if they prove an equal success.