Merlin Car Auctions Ireland

Scrappage Scheme 2010

Figures released by SIMI today show that 17,272 reclaims were made under the government Scrappage Scheme in 2010. (Some Scrappage Scheme cars sold in December 2010 will not be processed until January/February 2011 so these are interim results pending the processing of the final December Scrappage refunds). These statistics are based on data compiled by Revenue.

Speaking about the scheme, Alan Nolan, Director General of SIMI says, “With close to 17,500 scrappage cars sold last year, the Government Scheme provided the Industry with a real boost which saw overall business increase by over 50%. Ending the year with car sales up 55% on 2009, there is no doubt that this was directly due to the stimulus provided by the Scrappage Scheme. With the continuation of the scheme for the first six months of this year, we predict that a further 10,000 cars are likely to be sold under the Scheme. It will again, offer customers incredible value and will deliver significant additional revenues for the Exchequer. Last year, Scrappage Scheme cars alone generated €57m for the Government.”

“Remember that Scrappage cars represented only around a fifth of total new car sales last year. The real benefit of the Scheme is the positive knock-on effect it has had on the overall new and used car sectors. As a result of the positive sentiment generated by the Scheme, non-scrappage new car sales also increased from 57k in 2009 to just over 71k last year, an increase of a quarter on the previous year.”

“Although it is very early days to be drawing any conclusions, so far this year, footfall in showrooms has been strong, again largely due to the Scrappage Scheme, and this bodes well for the year ahead.” Nolan says.

Be the first to comment on this article!