Test Circuit

By Freshoutsourcing

 Have a clunker in the garage and your eyes on a jazzy new supermini? Now’s as good a time as any to make the trade. Thanks to the UK government’s Scrappage Scheme you can get cash for your clunker towards the new car of your choice at most any dealer in the country.

Here’s the deal: if you own a car or small van registered on or before August 31, 1999 you can trade it in for a new unregistered car or small van and get a 2,000 discount. Neither vehicle may weigh over 3,500 kg and your clunker must have been registered to you for a whole year prior to this purchase. If maximum savings are what you’re after then a smaller car might be your best option. Percentagewise, they provide the best savings under the Scrappage Scheme and their fuel-efficient engines, 35 yearly road tax and low insurance costs make them cheaper to drive. Plus, Advantage Finance Limited is offering those with poor credit histories up to 6,000 in financing towards the purchase of certain models.

Some dealers are offering even deeper discounts to up the traffic in their showrooms, so be sure to shop around to find the best deals. Mitsubishi, for instance, has decided to extend the 2,000 trade-in offer to people who own cars at least five years old, whereas the government threshold is ten years. Fiat is offering 1,955 of additional savings on its Grande Punto 1.4 Active and Ford is tempting consumers with a total of 4,000 off the Focus in conjunction with the Scrappage Scheme.

The government’s aim in launching this 300m scheme was to provide a needed boost to the auto industry, and it has in fact been a tremendous success all across Britain ever since it began in mid-May 2009. In all, 38 car manufacturers have embraced the program-including all the major brands-and less than two weeks after it was announced over 35,000 new car orders had been placed. Come August the scheme had already exhausted half of its funds with orders topping 150,000 and it had helped manufacturers achieve a 13.5% increase in manufacturing.

The scheme has also had a more positive environmental impact than was expected. Data show that the new cars purchased through the program have 25% lower carbon dioxide emissions than those scrapped, which translates into a reduction of 45g/km. Ever since the 2008 rise in fuel prices and subsequent “credit crunch”, UK consumers have been seeking smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and this scheme has served to help perpetuate the trend.

Given the success of the program, car retailers are loath to see it end. It’s scheduled to terminate upon the sale of a total of 300,000 vehicles or by the February 28, 2010 deadline, whichever happens first. Major dealers like Lookers and Pendragon have been putting pressure on the government to extend the scheme, pointing out that instability in the financial markets and climbing unemployment rates continue to put a damper on demand. After all, they say, the VAT channels about 1,000 back to the government per car sold, so the scheme can very nearly finance itself.

Rick Meyer is a keen fan of Japanese cars and the Mitsubishi scrappage scheme in particular.

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