The Government’s “cash for bangers” car-scrappage scheme is slowing the decline in new vehicle sales, figures out today revealed.
The number of new cars sold in the UK last month totalled 176,264 – a 15.7% drop on the June 2008 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
But the month-on-month fall was the smallest since July 2008.
The car-scrappage scheme – in which owners of cars more than 10 years old get £2,000 off the price of a new motor when they trade in their old vehicle – was introduced on May 18, so the June figures represent the first full month when the initiative was in operation.
Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said: “We are now beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations.
“SMMT expects the pace of improvement to increase in the coming months, but we can already see the industry making steady progress on the long road to recovery.”
However the data was less rosy for the region’s manufacturers. Vauxhall saw year-on-year sales fall 35% – more than 11,000 cars – to 20,990, and has now sold 50,000 cars fewer than at the same time in 2008.
Jaguar’s sales for June fell 19%, to 1,516, and Land Rover dropped 28% to 2,105. More positively, both marques showed a slowdown in the falling rate of sales.
