Scottish car sales respond to scrappage scheme
The Society of Motor Manufacturers has reported a 6.5% increase in new car registrations in Scotland during June. This is the first such rise for over 13 months and has been well received by the industry as a whole which has been going through a very difficult period. However, interestingly comparable figures for the rest of the UK showed a 17.6% reduction in new car registrations which has cast some doubt on the accuracy of the figures.
It is well-known that the government's scrappage scheme, which allows subsidies of up to £2000 per scrapped vehicle, has attracted the interest of new car buyers looking for more economical and environmentally friendly vehicles. This was an area of the UK market which had been showing some improvement before the credit crunch and now seems back on a growth path. The fact that the Scottish scrappage scheme seems to be having a far greater impact on the industry as a whole may be purely down to the size of the car market in Scotland and the regional variations in the rest of the UK.
While these figures have been well received in Scotland nobody is really getting over excited until we see the formation of a long-term recovery pattern.
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