UK car sales benefit from government car scrappage scheme
It has been revealed that a massive surge in new car sales in the UK in March led to an increase of 26.6% on the previous month. This was purely and simply because of the government's car scrappage scheme which offered significant incentives to those looking to scrap old vehicles and acquire new more efficient replacements. While the increase in new car sales was impressive the figure of 397,383 is well down on the 10 year average for March of just over 418,000 new registrations.
However, even when you strip out the perceived impact of the car scrappage scheme the increase in new car sales for March was still in the region of 17%. When you consider the car scrappage scheme was a win win situation for all involved it seems highly likely that it will return at some point, no matter which party is in power after the election.
There were initial reservations regarding the government car scrappage scheme but these appear to have been unfounded with a significant increase in activity levels within the UK car industry. Whether this improvement in sales will follow through the rest of 2010, now the scheme has ended, remains to be seen although there is no doubt it has saved many car manufacturers and car retailers from further financial difficulty.
Share this..
Related stories
Why has the Bank of England increased the quantitative easing fund?
While today's announcement of a £50 billion increase in the quantitative easing fund was released with an air of confidence, concerns are growing as to why the Bank of England has chosen this moment to increase the funds in question. There is a suspicion that even though it's still fairly early days for the quantitative easing policy to kick in, the impact of the significant wall of cash used alr...
Read MoreIs Vince Cable on the verge of quitting?
Vince Cable is rumoured to be on the verge of quitting the coalition government after he was rebuked in his comments regarding immigration into the UK. Various spokespeople within number 10 Downing St. have spoken to the press suggesting that comments associated with a Vince Cable regarding the immigration cap not working are incorrect. Since his comments earlier this week Vince Cable has been fai...
Read MoreAlistair Darling backtracks on budget promises
As we approach the next general election, Alistair Darling will next week set out his plans to reduce the UK budget deficit which is now estimated to top £175 billion for 2009. In what many will see as a political budget rather than an economic budget, ahead of the election, he is set to increase taxes on the middle to high income classes of the UK and will keep the tap turned on for various fisc...
Read MoreSurprise Surprise No Change In Base Rates
While today's decision by the Bank of England MPC was literally a no brainer it does not help the thousands of home owners who are struggling to make ends meet. As we read another report from the Halifax which confirms that house prices have fallen by nearly 13% over the last year it seems that mortgage arrears are set to sky rocket over the coming months. Large mortgages, shrinking assets, the...
Read MoreGermany declares first official recession in Europe
The German government has today confirmed that the economy is officially in recession and the situation looks like getting worse before it gets better. While this is the first official recession in Europe it will shortly be followed by French and Italian declarations together with the UK government over the next few months.
Slowly but surely all of Europe is likely to slip into rece...