Skurrays, the Swindon-based motor dealership, has given its support to a nationwide scrappage programme, proposed by The Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF), and is urging the government to take positive action in Wednesday’s budget.
With an incentive of £2,000, the scheme would encourage owners to scrap old inefficient vehicles in exchange for cleaner, more fuel efficient ones. Skurrays believes it would have the dual benefit of removing older high-polluting cars from the road as well as give a boost to the new car market.
UK car sales fell by almost a third in March this year compared with last year. While sales in Germany rose 40 per cent in March and by 10% in France after both countries adopted scrappage schemes.
According to Nick Plevey, Skurrays’ managing director: “We support the RMIF proposal as it would make a real difference in reducing CO² emissions. It’s clear that the scrappage scheme works in other countries and I would urge the government to take action.
“The scheme would help dealers by increasing demand for new cars and help the environment by reducing pollution and removing most of the non-catalytic cars from our UK roads. There are currently 4.26m cars on our roads that were manufactured before 1996.
“We know that a nationwide scheme could work as we already offer a similar scheme. Vauxhall is the first manufacturer to launch its own scheme ahead of any government announcement.
“The scheme is proving popular as Vauxhall customers get a guaranteed £1000 for their old car, whatever the condition.*
“Customers can choose a low emission Vauxhall Corsa, Astra, Meriva or Zafira and Skurrays will then dispose of the old vehicle using environmentally friendly methods.
“An additional £1000 off the cost price of a new Vauxhall is a real incentive for people and it means that customers can drive away a brand new fuel-efficient Vauxhall Corsa for as little as £6,995.”
