Car dealers are waiting to see the impact of the Government's scrappage scheme
on sales when it starts next Monday.
Experience in Germany shows it has skewed
the market with a dramatic drop in diesel engined models and large cars.
The German incentive favours the cheapest
option to maximise the hand-out and dealers in the UK believe this will happen
from next week in Britain.
Preliminary reports from some budget brands
report enormous interest but luxury and executive makers say it will do little
for them.
A new survey last week also showed most UK
car owners will boycott the buying incentive as it does not go far enough to
make a difference with so many low mileage used cars available with hefty
discounts off their new model equivalents.
Some manufacturers selling in Britain have
added their own scrappage top-up allowances in a bid to encourage buyers to
move up market and also brought down the qualifying age so they will take cars
less than 10 years old.
Data just released by the just Society
of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows van and truck registrations down 44.8pc
in April and down 27.7pc to 286,841 for the rolling year.
Within that total, trucks were down
41.0 in April and down 11.6 to 49,874 for the rolling year, while vans were down 45.6 for the month and down 30.3 to 236,967 for the rolling year.
The scheme is also capped and might end
sooner than next Spring if the Government share of the fund is exhausted
before, but some believe it will not be taken up to the fullest amount in any
case before it's due to end.
The scheme is also being rolled out at a
time when potential buyers are thinking about other spending such as holidays,
or wiping out or reducing mounting debts.
The biggest sale of cars under the scheme
is likely to be for the 59-plate registration in September.
Drivers bought 3pc more used cars in March
than 12 months ago as they turned their back on new models.
Loans, PCPs and leasing have all declined
but the situation on used car forecourts is better than in the new model
showrooms, says the Finance and Leasing Association.
European vehicles are on average about
8 years old, and about 30pc of them are older than 10 years, following the
latest report on vehicles-in-use by the Spanish Automobile Association, ANFAC.
On the contrary, only 7pc of vehicles are
younger than one year.
Overall,
there are over 251 million vehicles on European roads. 87pc of them are
passenger cars, which travel about 15 000 km every year on average. The
European car fleet is mainly concentrated in Western Europe, with over 6 out of
10 cars registered in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and Spain. The share of
diesel cars has risen further to 33pc in Western Europe.
In
terms of car density, the ratio of cars to population is one to two in Western
Europe, while in Eastern Europe this proportion is much lower. On the mature
and saturated Western European market, car demand stems mainly from replacement
whereas in the new EU Members there is still a growing market.
The second Consumer Markets Scoreboard
of the European Commission has found that cars are the goods consumers are most
satisfied with.
According
to the survey, 80pc of consumers in Europe are satisfied with new vehicles.
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