A quota system from the UK Department for Business to ensure fair rationing of the remaining scrappage budget has been welcomed by The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd (SMMT).
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The UK scheme is slated to end next month and is estimated to have boosted new British registrations by around 20%, but its imminent demise means there is only funding for less than 82,000 vehicles.
“We supported that [quota] to make sure the exit strategy we have is fair, that all the funding made available is used up,” an SMMT spokeswoman told just-auto. “We need to make sure the impact is carried through and nothing is done to undermine that.”
The SMMT is forecasting 2010 UK car registrations to be around 1.8 million, down from 1.94 million last year and says it is broadly happy with how the scrappage scheme has galvanised buyers.
“The [scrappage] impact on registrations has been very clear and the original 2009 forecast is now considerably higher,” added the spokeswoman, although she conceded there “would be a proportion” of buyers who have brought forward purchases as a result of the incentive.
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By GlobalDataManufacturers will be allocated order quotas to allow the scheme to wind down, with the government estimating nearly 320,000 new vehicle orders have been taken since the deal was announced last April.
“Industry figures have reflected the success the scheme has already had, boosting both car sales during the past few months and maintaining jobs in car production,” said business secretary Peter Mandelson.
“We expect the impact of the scheme to be felt into 2010 as deliveries will continue after the scheme closes.”
The UK government extended its scrappage incentive by providing a further £100m ($163m), covering up to 400,000 transactions.
Van orders under the scheme have also seen a boost, following the changes made to the scheme in September, with vans registered before February 2002 now eligible. Since these changes came into effect half of all vans scrapped through the scheme were less than ten years old and there have been reports of van fleet owners upgrading their entire stock.
The regional breakdown shows that take-up of the scheme broadly follows that of regional car ownership. Scrappage has proved popular with car buyers across the UK with take-up highest in the South East (18%), the East of England (12%), the North West (11%) and South West (11%).
The UK scheme, with GBP400m from Government and matched funding from manufacturers, is intended to provide immediate support on a short-term basis to boost the car industry and its supply chain during the downturn. It has also removed older vehicles from the road and encouraged consumers to invest in new, safer, and potentially more environmentally friendly models.
By 14th January 318,628 new vehicle orders were taken under the scrappage scheme since it was announced in the Budget in April.
See also: UK: Scrappage scheme sales climb towards 290,000
The scrappage scheme figures are updated on a weekly basis, with all available statistics on the BIS website: http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/automotive/scrappage/page51068.html
