Scrap car momentum
February 17th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
RMIF chief Paul Williams has reminded UK press agencies that an idea for boosting car sales is down to dealers!
‘You may recall,’ he said in an open letter to business secretary Lord Mandelson, ‘that when we met on 27 November 2008, I raised 4 points to assist the automotive retail sector.’
These included business rate relief on commercial properties, VED incentives, capital allowance for all new commercial vehicles…
And an old car scrappage scheme!
Williams duly notes that this has become ‘flavour of the month’… with Car Dealer confirming the number of references we’ve had to it recently.
The body, which represents car dealers, first made the proposal back in November 2009. And it has many benefits, says Williams.
‘ A self-funding scrappage scheme would provide a considerable incentive for potential buyers, and significantly reduce vehicle pollution.’
Williams will, on 24 February, meet with exchequer secretary, Angela Eagle, in the latest stage of his plan to push the policy with Government.
‘I would welcome an opportunity to discuss these proposals with you and your officials in greater detail and look forward to hearing from you shortly,’ he added.
Come back on the 24th for an update on how the scheme is progressing…
** SRAPPAGE UPDATE**
The SMMT has just reiterated its call for a scrappage incentive scheme at a European seminar.
Sset up by the EU, the Brussels meeting included a discussion on how cross-Europe scrappage schemes could work.
EU ministers want to harmonise such schemes – which means Britain could well join in the plans, which would incentivise cars 9 years or older to be scrapped.
In return, the owners would get a £2000 incentive against a new or (significantly) nearly new ‘green’ car.
‘Urgent action is needed to get consumers back into the showrooms and boost demand in the market,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.
‘The UK government must align with Europe and take immediate action to protect its automotive sector.’
The SMMT believes an 18-month scheme could generate 250,000 car sales.
Silence is golden for dealers
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