One of the main planks of the recent budget, the Scrappage scheme, had found very few friends since its launch.
It is under attack from all sides with the Environmental groups, vehicle manufactures, buyers and even the scrap yards themselves lining up to criticize it.

Speaking before the scheme was confirmed, Richard George, roads and climate campaigner for the Campaign for Better Transport, stated : “Trading in a nine-year-old car for a new one is not going to reduce your CO2 because making cars is almost as polluting as driving them.”

The Green Party dismissed the scrappage scheme as “fundamentally flawed.”
Party spokesperson Peter Cranie said the proposed policy would have neither economic nor environmental benefits.
“Scrappage is not going to help the environment. What has happened in Germany is that people trade up to get bigger cars, so it doesn’t reduce emissions,” he said.
For Jaguar, Land Rover (JLR), David Smith, the chief executive is quoted by The Telegraph as saying that the UK’s scheme is likely to disappoint because of the Government’s decision to limit the state discount to £1,000, with the industry contributing the other £1,000, and to set a high age for eligible old cars, significantly above the average vehicle age of seven years.

Potential buyers have dismissed the scheme, saying that the discounts do not go far enough and even scrap dealers themselves are worried that business will be taken away from them by the dealers own networks:
European Metal Recycling director of business development Graeme Carus said:
“The scheme is a good thing in general but I’m very concerned that it seems to be focusing on the car manufacturers only. There are two sectors concerned here – those who make the cars and those who scrap them. The car manufacturers will be taking the scrap from the car owners and so it could be the case that these scrap cars will only reach the approved treatment facilities, and scrap dealers, in the manufacturer’s own networks rather than opening the opportunities out to everyone.”

So, a plan that actually pleases no-one, and one that has proved to be as flawed an ACE said it would be.

ACE has always pointed up the environmentally friendly aspects of preserving older cars and will continue to do so, and, while preserving an older car may not contribute directly to the new car dealer’s margins large sums of money are spent and generated within the motor trade in general by car enthusiasts.

We believe that, instead of tinkering with the figures with ill-thought out schemes the government should be encouraging the continued use of well maintained older vehicles.