The Real Disaster Of The Scrappage Scheme
Sunday, 13. June 2010
I don’t know why but every time someone starts to explain how wonderful the scrappage scheme was the hairs on the back of my neck start to bristle. The latest is Graham Hope, deputy editor of Auto Express. He says that whist not everyone was in favour of the scrappage scheme it brought ‘some benefits, not least its condemnation of thousands of death traps’. His comments are an introduction to an article about the poor condition of cars on the road as a result of reduced policing. The point about the scrappage scheme is that our roads would have been much more dangerous without it. My friend, you are so misguided. The scrappage scheme was a disaster with the least well off being hit the most. Firstly it cost the government very little as the sales of new cars were considered to be incremental sales ie. sales to people who would not normally have bought new cars, meaning that the VAT raised virtually covered the cost to the government. Manufacturers increased their prices, in the case of Ford – 4 times during the year, this covered their portion of the £2,000 scrappage. Strangely, Ford have now dropped their list prices following the end of scrappage. The vast majority of cars sold through the scheme came from Korea with very few benefitting UK manufacturers, so the only workers to benefit were those working in car showrooms. Many of the public that used the scheme were also conned, they were, in the main, not used to negotiating on a new car, so they didn’t know that by shopping around they could have achieved a bigger discount than the £2,000 scrappage allowance and even received something for their old car. But the real failing was the removal of perfectly serviceable cars and crushing them. You don’t have to be of huge intelligence to see that people that could afford to take a new car to replace their old scrapped car could, in the main, afford to properly maintain their old car. Far from being ‘death traps’ they were actually in really good condition. Now look at the other end. The single mums, students, those without work and the elderly often have to drive aging cars with not a lot of cash available for repairs and maintenance. Having now crushed the cars that were of reasonable condition and would have found their way into the used car market as part exchanges, it means that the banger sellers have had to re-circulate the same old tired cars as there has been very little newer stock available. One dealer said that an aging Fiesta with an MOT might have sold for £500 before the scrappage, the same car would now have to sell for around £1,000, out of the reach of people that would have wanted to drive that car. I’m not surprised that so many of the older cars on our roads are unsafe after such an ill thought through scheme! Hill gets off his soap box! By Graham Hill
