Over 677,000 cars could qualify for a scrappage scheme applied to cars aged 10 years or older if proposals being put forward by the motor industry are introduced by the Government.
The latest bulletin on the Irish vehicle fleet, published by the Department of Transport, shows there are 677,938 licensed cars on Irish roads that were registered in 2000 or earlier. This is out of a total car fleet of 1.9 million.
Several countries have successfully introduced scrappage schemes to support their ailing motor industries.
It is believed any such scheme introduced in Ireland would provide incentives to motorists who scrap their older cars for new models. It may, however, be restricted to the purchase of new cars with emissions levels below 155g/km.
Alan Nolan, director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, estimates such a scheme would create only about 20,000 new car sales in the market next year if introduced.
The latest figures show an increase of 42,000 in the number of private cars licensed last year compared to 2007. A total of 1,924,281 cars were in the national fleet at the end of last year.
“When you compare this figure with the number of new cars sold in the same period, it’s clear that a substantial proportion of the new cars are ultimately replacing cars that are taken off the road,” says Nolan.
“If you compare that replacement level with the number of new cars likely to be sold this year – approximately 57,000 – you can see that we are not going to be at a similar replacement level this year. That ultimately means older cars will be retained in the fleet and, as older cars emit more CO2, this may well outweigh any benefits we have made in our carbon footprint from the introduction of the new emissions taxation [in 2008].”
Nolan says a new scrappage scheme could raise about €100 million in extra tax revenue for the Government.
“New car sales are down 63 per cent on 2008, a level which cannot sustain the current level of employment in the motor sector. Our industry has continued to haemorrhage jobs with the numbers lost now totalling more than 10,000 since January last year.
“Many employers are retaining staff in the hope next year might improve, but if we have a similar level as this year then many more jobs are at risk. That could well cost the Government over €100 million in increased welfare payments.”