SCRAP: German BOOM!
April 3rd, 2009 by Richard Aucock
NEW car sales in Germany have spiraled – and it’s all thanks to the Government’s new car scrappage scheme.
Figures just out show that sales for March were up by a staggering 40 PERCENT.
And that’s compared with a year ago, before the impacts of the recession were fully felt.
It comes on the back of a 21 percent rise in February – and has seen applicants for the scheme more than double from the 600,000 places originally allocated.
The scheme gives German car buyers £2200 off a new car, if they scrap one more than nine years old.
The BBC also says that sales in France and Italy, which are running similar scrappage schemes, rose as well.
It is a direct contrast to sales in the US: the BBC says that March figures there, where a new car scrappage scheme is not run, were DOWN 45 percent.
Trade experts did warn, though, that the current boom could be followed by a period of depression when the scheme closes at the end of 2009.
This is something that UK car dealers should be aware of, and ensure they are fully geared up for coping when any expected new car scrappage schemes end.
SCRAP SCHEME NOW: A call to arms
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