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Will cash deal drive us to a greener future?
A "cash for bangers" car-scrappage scheme aims to kick-start the ailing motor industry. But will a £2,000 incentive be enough to get consumers spending again? SOPHIE HAZAN reports
FROM next month motorists will be able to trade in old cars for a 2,000 cash incentive to be spent on a new motor. The move is expected to invigorate the industry with the Government keen to point out that a similar scheme in Germany triggered a 40 per cent rise in car sales only last month.
Alistair Darling, who outlined the scheme in the Spring budget, said that it would see at least 300,000 new car sales in Britain.
The Chancellor also claimed that getting gas-guzzling cars off the road would help the environment.
The Government is set to spend 300m on the scheme when it comes into effect mid-May.
It will give 1,000 to each motorist that scraps a vehicle that was registered before July 31, 1999, and that they had owned for at least a year.
Consumers will be able to buy any new vehicle, including small vans rather than just low-pollution models with their cash.
Car manufacturers will match the remaining 1,000 on completion of sale.
Critics say the plans are not green enough and that shoppers should be made to buy low-carbon emitting cars.
Some question whether the cash sum will be enough for skint consumers, many of who will have to take on more debt in order to buy that new car.
There have been questions over whether UK manufacturers will benefit at all, and whether predicted sales are attainable.
Andrew Coulthurst, sales director for Yorkshire's JCT 600 dealership group, reported that sales were "massively" improved within 24 hours of the cash incentive scheme being announced.
Improved
"We sold 60 per cent more than we would normally in scrappage deals," he said.
"There was generally more interest in cars with people looking around and the publicity of the announcement generating people to market."
He added that there was "no profit margin" in new car sales, and that customers were likely to rely on credit.
"How customers will afford to find the cash to buy a new car that costs around 10,000 is a good question," he said.
"The scrappage scheme money should be treated as a cash deposit, and credit agreements can be arranged for as little as 100 a month, which will be a lot less then the customer was previously paying on maintenance and fuel tax."
Motorist Keith Hodgson, 61, is thinking about scrapping his T reg Volkswagen Bora.
The retired teacher said that the scheme could have gone much further.
"We will be trying to buy a car that's environmentally friendly because of our commitment to the green stuff but whether we buy one that's manufactured in this country is another thing. The Government should have used the cash to get people buying smaller, low carbon cars that were manufacturered in the UK if they really wanted to help the industry and the planet."
Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth senior transport campaigner, said: "A car scrappage scheme targeted at replacing old gas-guzzlers with smarter cars that use less fuel could have played a limited role in reducing climate change emissions from transport – but the plans announced in the Budget have no green substance.
"This is just an unnecessary subsidy to an industry that has consistently opposed tough legislation to cut carbon emissions."
Yet the AA president Edmund King hailed the announcement as "generous".
"A 2,000 incentive from Government and manufacturers will help the economy, environment and employment.
If every 10-year-old vehicle was replaced with today's equivalent we would see a 30 per cent increase in fuel efficiency and almost 30 per cent decrease in CO2 emissions.
"Today's vehicles are almost twice as safe as 10-year-old vehicles."
Audrey doesn't bite phish bait...
A NEW type of "phishing" scam has been uncovered by a Leeds great-grandmother.
Fraudsters failed to con Audrey Grumwell, 75, who immediately reported to Scamwatch their attempts to get her bank details, in the hope that she could warn readers.
The cheats, who are thought to be operating from Delhi in India, called Mrs Grumwell at her home in Richmond Hill with the "good news" that she was owed 400.
They said they were from Yorkshire Bank – who she does bank with – but in order for her to receive her money she would first have to pay 49.99 to cover administrative fees.
The caller demanded bank account details for the transaction. But shrewd Mrs Grumwell had some questions of her own and asked for more details in writing. This was "unfortunately" declined without payment, so she asked to speak to a supervisor, but was again met with the same demand for money.
Mrs Grumwell hung up, noted down the phone number and rang back. She was directed straight to an answering service and told she could not leave a message as the mailbox was full.
The phone number was 014133910722, which is traceable to Delhi in India.
Mrs Grumwell later realised that she had received another unsolicited phonecall a few days earlier, which explained what had happened.
"The call was from a man with an Asian accent who asked me if I was happy with my bank," she said.
"I said that I was and he asked me which bank I was with. I told them – Yorkshire Bank."
John Field, centre manager of government-funded advice line Consumer Direct, said he had not heard of this type of scam before.
He added: "This appears to be a sophisticated twist on an old scam in terms of stealing people's bank details by creating a degree of trust with a member of the public that could lead people into believing it to be a genuine call."
Yorkshire Bank customers are reminded that they would never be asked for an administration fee, bank account details or credit card numbers over the phone in order to release money that was already theirs.
"We take the issue of fraud very seriously and employ sophisticated fraud detection and management systems," a spokeswoman said.
"We would encourage anyone experiencing this type of fraud attempt to report it to their bank as soon as possible."
Suspected cons can be sent to scamwatch@ypn.co.uk
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Weather for Leeds
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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