Government to pay $3000 for bombs?

[vztrt]

Seems to have boosted sales in the uK

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575C900042C8B

Britain reports scrappage boost

Industry cautious, but UK government claims 35,000 sales under new scrappage scheme

By RON HAMMERTON 2 June 2009

BRITAIN’S new scrappage scheme has been hailed a success by the government less than two weeks after it was introduced, with claims last week that more than 35,000 new-vehicle orders had been placed since the subsidy was announced in the budget on April 22.

Prime minister Gordon Brown said the ₤300 million ($A605 million) scheme, which came into action on May 18 and offers consumers a ₤2000 ($A4040) subsidy split evenly between the government and the manufacturer, said the 35,000-plus orders equalled one scrappage scheme order for every five new-car orders placed over the period.

“I am determined to do everything I can to see Britain through the downturn quickly and build a stronger Britain for the future,” he said. “That is why I am delighted that over 35,000 people have already taken up the government’s offer of help to buy a new car when they scrap their old one.

“This scheme not only helps hard-pressed consumers, it also helps protect British jobs by stimulating demand for new cars.”

Business secretary Peter Mandelson proclaimed on Friday that the scheme was “winning all round”.

“The scrappage scheme has got off to a flying start. It has given car sales a major boost and offers consumers a great deal,” he said.

Britain’s car industry body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), was more cautious about the results. SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said he was encouraged by the government’s claim, but insisted June registration data would provide “a better indication of the longer-term impact of the scheme’s success”.

Another spokesman for the SMMT, which is not expected to release the official May sales figures until next Monday, told Reuters he was keen to see whether forward orders and interest would translate into hard sales for the second half of May and the full month of June.

“We are encouraged by the positive start to the scrappage scheme,” said the SMMT spokesman. “There has been an increase in showroom traffic and website inquiries, but it will be a good couple of months until we see the true impact on the market.”

The Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF), which represents UK dealers, said the government figures indicate that the scheme is having a “positive effect” on the new-car market.

“The incentive scheme is helping the industry revive sales, while also helping consumers get into a new car; this is a double win,” said RMIF director Sue Robinson, adding that survey results on the public’s reaction (as seen by dealers) would be published this week.

British car sales slumped 24.0 per cent in April (to 133,475 vehicles) against an average of 29.7 per cent drop over the first three months of the year, whereas sales in Germany and France have increased dramatically on the back of scrappage incentives.

The British scrappage scheme differs from other countries in being split between the government and participating manufacturers. According to the government, 38 manufacturers have signed-up for the incentive payments, including all the volume car-makers.

The country’s biggest car manufacturer, Nissan, has already benefited from European scrappage schemes, increasing production at its Sunderland plant and employing an extra 150 contract workers from June to meet a spike in demand.

[vztrt]

NZ calling for the scheme

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575C900082D62

Get serious on scrappage, says NZ car industry

New-for-old bangers scheme in NZ ‘would pay for itself’

By JACQUI MADELIN 2 June 2009

THE New Zealand Motor Industry Association (MIA) has urged the New Zealand government to extend and expand its trial scrappage scheme to rid the roads of high-polluting cars.

New Zealand has one of the oldest car fleets in the world, with an average age of 12.5 years, according to Ministry of Transport (MOT) 2007 fleet statistics.

By comparison, Australian cars average 9.7 years and British cars six years old.

MOT general manager, land transport environment and safety, David Crawford, said the scrappage trial had been run to find out more about how to encourage people to retire vehicles that were reaching the end of their working life.

“Older vehicles lack the safety benefits and emissions standards of modern cars,” he said.

“Data gathered from the trial will enable more effective analysis of the tail-end of the vehicle fleet.”

The second of two trials – developed by the MOT with the NZ Transport Agency – ended on May 31 in Wellington and Christchurch.

The incentive to scrap was a $250 card redeemable on public transport and available to the first 150 scrapped, with other incentives offered by local radio stations and internet trading site Trade Me. Participants also went into a draw to win a Toyota Corolla.

By May 29, 108 eligible vehicles had been scrapped, and 216 that were not eligible. The MoT said the trial met its aims by taking a lot of older cars out of circulation while raising awareness about scrapping as an option for unwanted vehicles.

The May trial aimed to build on results obtained in a 2006-7 Auckland trial which offered a $400 public transport pass valid for two months. Over the trial period, 253 cars were scrapped and 162 were emissions tested.

The average scrapped car was 18.2 years old, had covered 195,000km and was used for commuting or household chores. Cars came from a variety of socio-economic and geographic profiles.

Of those tested, some had emissions “quite literally off the scale”, according to emissions Testing NZ Ltd, but 47 per cent of the petrol vehicles tested would have passed the UK idle emissions test for pre-1992 vehicles (3.5 per cent carbon monoxide, 1200ppm hydrocarbons).

The MOT report noted that a finding of concern was the apparent high rate of removal of catalytic converters from Japanese used vehicles.

Some 36 per cent of participants bought another car, and most spent more than $2500 on a vehicle with an average age of 11.3 years (seven younger than the average of those scrapped).

The scheme cost an estimated $406.32 a vehicle. The report concluded: “The benefits exceed $400 per vehicle if the health and social benefits from the removal of these vehicles are taken into consideration. However, if a scheme was to be run again a higher rate of vehicle scrappage (or a lower per vehicle cost) would be sought.”

The MIA called for significant incentives to boost new-car sales.

MIA CEO Perry Kerr said an increase in motor vehicle sales would cover the costs of such a scheme, thanks to extra GST and company tax revenue.

“If the scheme resulted in 3000 additional sales, GST alone would be in the region of NZ$6.7million ($A5.34 million), (based on an average sale price of $20,000). The cost to scrap 3000 vehicles would be $4.5 million.”

However, Mr Kerr said MIA members would support a scrappage scheme at a lower incentive rate, as it believed that if the bottom of the market was buoyant, the top would feel the effect.

But for any scheme to work it must be supported by the government and must focus on generating new-car sales.

Mr Kerr acknowledged that NZ did not have a vehicle manufacturing industry to support, but said this should not stop NZ from taking part.

“We have a vehicle distribution industry which is hurting, and we also have an aging vehicle fleet which is one of the oldest in the developed world.

“We need to address these issues for economic, environmental and health and safety reasons, so we are encouraging the Government to roll out such a scheme nationally.”

However, the MIA was not optimistic the government would implement a continued scrappage scheme in the current economic climate.

Kia NZ tried its own scrappage scheme in 2006, with ads titled Wrecking cars to save the planet.

Kia promised to “remove and scrap one old polluting vehicle from the road for every vehicle traded in” on specified new Kia models.

“If the buyer’s trade-in is deemed too good to scrap, the company will purchase another one to destroy,” the ads said.

John Keenan, then general manager of Kia Motors NZ, said Kia assumed a trade-in value of $1500, and deregistered and removed the VIN to ensure the old cars were permanently off the road.

However, he said the offer was withdrawn after the first insert and not pursued due to poor response, “and the difficulty in ensuring engines from wrecked vehicles did not end up being shipped to other parts of the globe.”

“Kia concluded at the time that this type of scheme could not be carried out by an individual distributor as it needed government intervention to target the real clunkers direct and regulate disposal.”

[vztrt]

US to Implement the scheme

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575D20024899F

Congress cranks clunkers cash scheme

US car industry set to get $5 billion scrappage incentive boost

By RON HAMMERTON 11 June 2009

A US cash-for-clunkers scrappage incentive scheme is set to generate up to a million new-car sales after the House of Representatives approved a plan offering car buyers up to $4500 ($A5554) for gas-guzzler trade-ins.

The bill’s passage through the Senate and into law now seems a formality, as Democrats and Republicans alike voted overwhelmingly – 298 to119 – in support of the CARS Act, which also has the support of the Obama administration.

Strangely, the news caused barely a ripple on US new services, unlike the UK and Europe where the introduction of similar schemes brought front-page headlines.

The bill sets aside $4 billion ($A5 billion) to provide electronic vouchers towards new, more fuel-efficient cars and pick-ups for owners of older cars whose vehicles will then be crushed without any trade-in value.

Although there is a chance that the bill could be modified in the Senate, customers are likely to get a $US3500 ($A4320) voucher if they trade in a passenger car that gets less than 18mpg (13.0L/100km) for a new car getting at least 22mpg (10.7L/100km).

Vouchers for $US4500 would be awarded if the new car gets at least 10mpg more than the trade-in car. Light-commercial vehicles – including America’s favourite pick-ups and SUVs – are also eligible, but with more complex rules.

Congressional estimates suggest the incentives could generate thousands of jobs in the depressed US car industry while taking some of the worst-offending gas-guzzlers and polluters off the roads.

The Congressional Budget Office says the bill could spur sales of about 625,000 vehicles, but backers – particularly from car industry-heavy states such as Michigan and Ohio – are hoping for one million

Unlike European schemes, the bill so far has no age limit on cars being scrapped, with proponents of the US scheme saying the fact that the trade-in cars must be crushed without any trade-in value will be self-governing, as no one is going to crush a valuable car.

The vehicles also have to have been registered for a minimum of 12 months before being traded.

However, critics say the system will be rorted, with unscrupulous operators transferring build plates and stripping out engines and other valuable parts before pushing the cars into the crusher.

They are also concerned that such schemes simply pull-forward sales, leading to a demand vacuum once the scheme runs out.

In Australia, the federal government has rejected calls for a similar scheme, preferring instead to offer business tax incentives. Last month, sales of utilities jumped, suggesting that the scheme is having some effect.

Scrappage schemes in Europe have been credited with big gains in car sales. In Germany, car volumes were up almost 40 per cent last month compared with May last year, while France recorded an 11.9 per cent rise.

In Britain, where a scheme was introduced in mid May, results were less obvious, with sales still down 24.8 per cent for the entire month. This was, however, better than the 27.9 per cent slide for the first five months of the year.

In the US, an estimated 25 million vehicles will qualify for the scrappage scheme, but most are light trucks – pick-ups and large SUVs.

The US government is concerned that its large investment in saving General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy could falter unless the market is stimulated in the showrooms.

[vztrt]

US introduces a 3 and a half month scheme.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575DA00064E11

Cut-down ‘cash-for-clunkers’ bill is go

US Senate slices spend on car sales incentive before giving it the green light

By RON HAMMERTON 19 June 2009

THE US Senate has approved the cash-for-clunkers car-buying incentive scheme, but not before slicing it by three-quarters, from the original $US4 billion ($A5 billion), one-year scheme to a $US1 billion ($A1.24 billion), three-and-a-half-month package.

All that now stands between car buyers wanting to trade in old gas guzzlers on more efficient new models and incentives of up to $US4500 ($A5624) are President Barack Obama and a pen full of ink.

That signature is expected to be a formality, as Mr Obama has already expressed his support for the scheme to lift moribund US car sales and rid the roads of some of the worst polluters.

The voucher system is expected to kick in about a month after the White House sends the bill back to Congress, and remain active until about November.

Legislators hope the three-month burst will help spur the recovery of depressed US car-makers, especially General Motors and Chrysler, and save thousands of jobs across the whole industry, including suppliers and dealers.

Between 150,000 and 250,000 new-vehicle sales are expected to be generated by the scheme, with the same number of old cars and pick-ups being crushed as a consequence.

Bizarrely, the bill ended up being attached to legislation for a $US106 billion ($A132 billion) military assistance package for US troops in Iraq.

This move to expedite the car scrappage scheme raised the ire of some Republican senators, who tried to vote it down on a point of order. However, the vote was beaten 60-36 on party lines, before the whole package was passed by the senate, 91-5.

Some opponents to the scheme argued that it did not do enough to encourage a more fuel-efficient fleet, while others opposed it on financial grounds, saying the US could ill-afford more spending to boost recovery.

Yet others argued that the scheme would merely pull-forward the market at the expense of US taxpayers, leaving a vacuum in sales once it runs out.

Under the scheme, car buyers will get a $US3500 ($A4320) voucher if they trade in a passenger car that gets less than 18mpg (13.0L/100km) for a new car getting at least 22mpg (10.7L/100km). Vouchers for $US4500 would be awarded if the new car gets at least 10mpg more than the trade-in car. Light-commercial vehicles – including America’s favourite pick-ups and SUVs – are also eligible, but with more complex rules.

While the bill only allows for a shortened initiative ending about November, Automotive News reports that the original sponsor of the legislation, Ohio Democratic representative Betty Sutton, will try to resurrect a longer-term program at the beginning of the US financial year, on October 1.

Scrappage schemes have successfully rejuvenated markets in Germany, China and France, but so far have had less impact in other countries, including Spain, the UK and Italy.

The Australian government has rejected calls for a similar scheme in Australia, preferring to offer business tax breaks on new cars – a move that seems to be paying dividends as the end of financial year looms.

[vztrt]

Scrappage scheme helps Hyundai in the UK

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575E0000B0C75

Hyundai makes hay in UK incentives

UK scrappage scheme rockets Hyundai to top of the charts

By RON HAMMERTON 25 June 2009

AS US president Barack Obama signed America’s ‘cash-for-clunkers’ car sales incentive scheme into law last night, a similar scrappage program in Britain was kicking goals, with Hyundai one of the biggest scorers.

The South Korean importer said it was selling shiploads of its entry-level i10, i20 and i30 cars in the UK this month, taking 11,500 orders under the scrappage scheme that was introduced to an initial slow response in mid May.

Hyundai UK claimed its record June sales figures would “send shockwaves through the industry”, adding that it expected to out-sell “big-name players in the car market”.

Hyundai is reportedly outselling GM’s Vauxhall so far this month, and Autocar reports that Ford might be the only company to keep its nose ahead of the Korean brand in June.

Four shiploads bringing 5100 Hyundai cars have unloaded at London’s Tilbury docks to fill a backlog of orders from customers wanting to trade in old cars on new vehicles, aided by a £2000 ($A4114) subsidy split evenly between the government and the manufacturer.

The trade-ins will be crushed to rid the roads of old, polluting vehicles while helping to boost the struggling auto industry.

Hyundai UK managing director Tony Whitehorn said: “We had plans in place to make sure we were ready for scrappage, but the level of demand has shocked people who have been in the industry for decades.

“Customers are literally queuing up in front of salesmen’s desks. Hyundai dealers have never seen anything like it and are taking on extra staff just to cope with the demand.”

The Hyundai success is just another feather in the cap for the company, which seems to be able to do little wrong in markets around the world right now.

In Australia, Hyundai sales are up 16.4 per cent year to date, with May sales jumping 32.4 per cent on the back of strong sales of i30, which is up 68.7 per cent this year.

The even better news for Hyundai Australia is that two of the models that have been selling so well in the UK under the scrappage scheme, the baby i10 and i20 light car, are also destined for the local market. The i20 might arrive before the end of the year, while the i10 is scheduled for next year.

In the US, president Obama signed the so-called cash-for-guzzlers bill last night, kicking off a 30-day period in which the US government will prepare regulations for the program.

The $US1 billion ($A1.25b) stimulus package will offer vouchers for up to $4500 for old vehicles sent to the crusher when traded on new, more efficient models.

The original $US4 billion/one-year program was cut to a $US1 billion/three-month scheme by the Senate, where opponents raised a range of concerns.

Some argued it did not do enough to encourage more efficient vehicles, while others said it would merely pull forward the market at great cost to the taxpayer.

Nevertheless, a compromise scheme was passed by the Senate and sent off to the White House, where president Obama signed it into law as expected.

[vztrt]

How its helped sales in the UK.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575EC0002497E

British scrappage scheme boosts sales

UK ‘cash for clunkers’ scheme accounts for almost 10 per cent of June new-car sales

By TERRY MARTIN 7 July 2009

THE scrappage scheme operating in the United Kingdom is proving “hugely popular", accounting for almost 10 per cent of the 176,264 new passenger car registrations recorded in June, according to figures released this week.

While the total was 15.7 per cent down on June 2008, the UK’s peak automotive body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), recorded 17,337 new-vehicle registrations in June through the scrappage incentive scheme.

This included 323 vans, or 1.9 per cent of overall van registrations for the month.

The brands to benefit most the scheme were Hyundai (3042), Toyota (2586), Ford (2066), Fiat (1743), Nissan (1662), Kia (1321) and Suzuki (916).

Since the ‘cash for clunkers’ incentive began on May 18, the SMMT has recorded 29,796 vehicle registrations under the scheme. This is below the 35,000 new-vehicle orders the British government last month claimed had been placed in the first six weeks after the scheme – which offers consumers a ₤2000 ($A4080) subsidy split evenly between the government and the manufacturer – was announced in the budget on April 22, although details are unavailable to ascertain the number of cars from this batch still to be delivered. Nonetheless, the latest figures have given SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt reason to follow the government’s lead and hail the scheme a success.

“The scrappage incentive scheme is working well and has encouraged a lot more people back into showrooms,” Mr Everitt said. “In the coming months, we will see an increase in the rate of deliveries and this will confirm further progress on the industry’s long road to recovery.”

In contrast, the UK’s National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) was more circumspect, arguing that the true impact of the vehicle scrappage scheme would be felt over the coming months as the volume of orders are processed and consumers receive their cars. “It can take up to two months for a new-car purchase to go from the initial order to the delivery to the customer, so most of the purchases made under the scrappage scheme have yet to translate into sales,” said NFDA director Sue Robinson. “We expect the full impact of the scheme to make itself felt from next month onwards.”

Year-to-date, the UK market is down 25.9 per cent. Elsewhere in Europe, scrappage incentives in France, Spain and Italy were also deemed responsible for an improvement in sales last month. French new-vehicle sales rose 7.1 per cent on June 2008 – with 20 per cent of the circa-200,000 total attributed to its scrappage scheme – while Italian sales climbed 12.4 per cent. In Spain, overall sales fell 15.9 per cent last month compared to the corresponding month last year, although this was considered evidence of a recovery after sales fell 38.7 per cent in May.

[vztrt]

Australia's 15 million cars have been getting younger, but only to 9.9 years.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2575F400247D0E

Age of the automobile

Boom times bust old bombs on our roads

By JAMES STANFORD 14 July 2009

SCRAPPAGE schemes have been introduced in Europe and the US with the idea of ridding the roads of clunkers while supporting new-car producers.

So far, the Australian government has talked down the need for a similar scheme here, instead opting for business tax deductions of up to 50 per cent of the purchase price of new vehicles.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show that while the average age of cars in Australia is high, it has been dropping without a scrappage scheme.

ABS numbers show the average age of the Australian vehicle fleet has been declining steadily since the late-1990s, from a high of 10.7 years in 1997 to 9.9 years in 2008.

This might not sound like a huge change, but when you consider there are 15.3 million vehicles on Australian roads, such a move is significant.

In the UK, the average age of vehicles stood at seven years when last measured by the national census at the start of last year. This might be lower than Australia’s average, but the age of vehicles in the UK is increasing. In 2003, it stood at 6.6 years.

In the US, Polk-sourced data presented by the US transportation department shows the American carparc is getting older, too, steadily rising from 6.5 years in 1990 to 9.2 in 2007.

However, it remained steady at 8.3 years from 1998 to 2001, but it has not dropped in any year since 1990.

The US ‘cash for clunkers’ program has just been introduced with incentives of up to $US4500 ($A5700) towards a new vehicle for customers who trade in a car that meets a range of requirements, including having an average fuel consumption figure of at least 13L/100km.

Whether this and other scrappage schemes will attract customers who were not already intending to purchase a new vehicle is yet to be seen.

Its effect on the average age of vehicles is also unknown, as the scheme is being introduced at the time of a sales downturn.

The recent oil price spike might have encouraged many people to trade up from older and generally less frugal vehicles, but there is no doubt more are now holding on to their current vehicles in a grim economic climate.

That certainly appears to have been the case in Australia previously, although there are many other factors that contribute to the average age of the national fleet, including the increased durability of vehicles, closer focus on roadworthiness of old vehicles in most states, and better than ever affordability.

The average age of vehicles, which is tied to new-car sales rates, spiked in the mid-1980s when intense inflation with spiralling car prices caused many potential customers to steer clear of showrooms and make do with what they had. The upward trend continued through the 1987 stock-market crash and subsequent recession of 1990-91.

It was not until the boom times of the late-1990s and 2000s that the age started to decrease.

We could be about to see the average age of Australian vehicles level off or start rising again.

Only time will tell whether the government’s business tax break is enough to stimulate sales and keep the new-car market rolling.

[Road_Warrior]

EDIT: nevermind

[vztrt]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/46542/us...bious-results/

US ‘Cash for Clunkers’ scheme sees dubious results

October 30, 2009 by Matt Brogan

According to a recent study conducted by Edmunds, the US CARS program only spurred the sale of 125,000 new vehicles of the almost 690,000 sold under the government’s Cash for Clunkers program.

Given past and predicted sales trends, the study discovered that 565,000 of the vehicles sold under the program would have left dealers lots at some point this year regardless of the CARS program, leaving US taxpayers with a bill of $24,000 per car for the program’s 125,000 incremental sales.

Edmunds’ research also discovered that October sales would have been much higher had it not been for the government’s Cash for Clunkers program.

“October sales are up, but without Cash for Clunkers, sales would have been even better,” said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl.

Edmunds acknowledges that the program probably had a positive environmental impact as many buyers wouldn’t have otherwise traded in their older vehicle, but the research firm is dubious of the economic impact of the CARS program, saying “the economic claims have been rendered quite weak.”

[gtfpv]

is this scheme in effect yet ??? in australia . if so it will benifit me and i will make use of it .

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

is this scheme in effect yet ??? in australia . if so it will benifit me and i will make use of it .

Nah nothing has happened since it was called for.

[Luke Plaizier]

And thank goodness we didn't do it. Australia seemed to get through the downturn with no ill effects - unemployment was reduced, none of our banks did anything other than make a profit, and we're now in an inflationary spiral.

I know the car industry is doing it tough, but if we'd had a cash for clunkers program here in Oz, inflation would be even worse than it is now, as we're looking at at least another 25 basis points interest increase for Melbourne Cup day, if not 50. And even then we can expect yet another interest rate hike closer to christmas.

I know we can't stop the money going out to schools for new shade covers or halls. Nor can we stop the building of all those highways and new roads. But we're in a position now where the government needs to start raking in revenue and wipe out the debt, rather than turn on any new spending schemes.

The government did well. We all survived. Australia recorded perhaps the best result of any country on the planet during the downturn.

Rejoice.


Lukeyson

[UKXR8]

Well we've had the scheme over here in the UK for a while now, the deal is that you get £2000 off a new car if you trade in a 10 year or older car that you have owned for a year.
Strangely most new car prices have risen by..... you guessed it £2000 since the scheme came in, its a complete con.
Annoyingly once the scheme stops you can pretty much guarantee the 2k price hike will stay.

[vztrt]

Car rebate benefits to flow offshore

Scrappage scheme likely to benefit imports over locally manufactured cars

8 November 2010

By IAN PORTER

THE Federal Government is unable to prevent most of the benefits of its $430 million Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme from flowing offshore.

The Government is not allowed to make the scheme applicable only to Australian made cars under the terms of the World Trade Organisation agreement which governs much world trade, said the minister for innovation, industry, science and research, Senator Kim Carr.

“I have to work within existing international treaty obligations,” the minister told GoAuto after announcing the six-month deferral of the Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme to July 2011.

Germany had the same problem when it ran a scrappage scheme as part of its economic stimulus package after the advent of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Angela Merkel’s government had to sit and watch as the economic stimulus flowed out of Germany to other countries.

Car sales rocketed under the scheme and the estimates of how many cars would be sold and how much the Government subsidy would cost proved way too low. The number of cars sold was originally estimated at 300,000 but ended up reaching 2 million.

The problem was that German car buyers tended to buy cheaper cars made in Eastern Europe, particularly Romania and the Czech Republic, so the economic benefit largely went to those countries rather than Germany.

The Australian scheme is linked to environmental performance, but only two Australian-made cars currently achieve the required environmental rating of six under the Green Vehicle Guide system. That is equivalent to emissions of 220 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

The cars that qualify are the Toyota Camry range (petrol and hybrid) and the 3.0-litre SIDI Holden Commodore, although there will be more eligible locally built cars by the time the scheme kicks in.

Holden’s Cruze and Ford’s EcoBoost Falcon will be on the market and will also qualify – and most likely the Territory diesel – when the deferred Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme is opened.

Asked why Australia could not ignore the WTO guidelines, as President George W Bush did when he banned imports to protect the US steel industry, Senator Carr said Australia “plays in a different league than the US” when it comes to industry assistance measures.

“The nature of real-world economics in international trade require us to treat these things with some care,” he said.

“Given that we are a small trading country, we do not have the same policy flexibility that the United States has. I have to work within existing international treaty obligations.

“We have got to be a lot smarter about ensuring that Australia retains its access to international markets. Remember that over 60 per cent of our vehicle production is actually sent offshore.”

The Australian scrappage scheme has benefitted from one mistake made by the Germans, whose scheme was open-ended. The Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme will be capped at 200,000 vehicles over four years.

Initially budgeted at €1.5 billion ($A2.07 billion), the Government subsidy of €2500 ($A3464) per car eventually consumed €5 billion ($A6.93 billion) of German taxpayer funds as 2 million cars were sold under the scheme. Capping the Australian scheme at $2000 per car for 200,000 cars gives an indicated subsidy to buyers of $400 million. The extra $30 million in the Government’s total budget of $430 million appears to be earmarked for establishing and administering the scheme to ensure there are none of the rorts and corner-cutting that blighted the house insulation scheme.

Senator Carr said the local manufacturers had made a lot of progress in reducing fuel consumption and emissions of their cars since the world was caught unawares by the sudden spike in oil prices before the global financial crisis hit.

“We’ve actually made very significant improvements through new technologies, and quickly,” he said. “How would you do it without the Green Car Industry plan? This industry is huge.

“All three manufacturers have responded very well. These have been the worst economic times, so attracting new investment capital is a major achievement.”

Under the reduced $900 million Green Car Industry plan, Holden has received $149 million to help bring the Cruze into production, Ford has received $42 million to bring the EcoBoost Falcon to market and Toyota has received $35 million to assist with the introduction of the Camry hybrid to the Altona production line.

Under the scheme’s guidelines, the companies are required to invest three or more times what they receive as grants.

[vztrt]

Local ‘Cash for Clunkers’ scheme delayed

Federal government defers Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme six months

8 November 2010

By IAN PORTER

THE federal government has deferred the start of its controversial Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme to July 2011 in a bid to avoid any problems or oversights caused by haste.

The deferral was instigated at the insistence of Senator Kim Carr, the minister for innovation, industry, science and research, who has only just inherited the scheme from the department of the environment.

The scheme was launched during the recent Federal election campaign and caught the industry by surprise.

It looks like several “Cash for Clunkers” schemes implemented in Europe and the US during the early days of the global financial crisis, with one important difference: the Australian scheme will be capped at 200,000 vehicles and $430 million.

In an apparent move to avoid the sorts of problems that blighted the housing insulation program – caused by poorly qualified company owners and poorly trained workers – Senator Carr is determined to address all possible problems before the scheme kicks off.

“The ministerial responsibility for the program has recently been transferred to me and I’d like to talk to more people about the scheme’s design and to ensure all the delivery mechanisms appropriate,” the minister told GoAuto.

Senator Carr said he had spoken to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers, and they agreed that a delay would be appropriate.

“I want to ensure all the delivery mechanisms are complete,” he said.

“We have got to make sure that the computer systems are tested and fully functional and I have got to make sure that any issues that have been thrown up so far are able to be resolved.”

The minister said he wanted more clarity around some of the simpler issues raised by the scheme.

“Things like who gets the benefit: the customer, the car yard or the wrecker’s yard?

“How do you transfer the old vehicles from the saleyard to the wrecker’s yard?

“What parts on the vehicles are scrapped and what parts are to be recycled?

“What do you do with the refrigeration (air conditioning) gases for instance, and all the oils and fluids?

“The wrecker’s yards that want to participate have to be able to demonstrate that they can capture the (aircon) gases and that the vehicles have been taken off the road. Do we cube them? Do we shred them?

“Those are the administrative details I need to make sure are clear.”

The six-month deferral will give the department time to discuss the issues with the wrecking industry, the car sales yards and the vehicle manufacturers.

“How do you build a national scheme for wrecking cars? We haven’t wrecked cars before,” he said.

The Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme will run over four years from the new start date. Car owners will be able to trade in cars built before 1995 and receive a $2,000 rebate when they purchase a new car with a Green Vehicle Guide greenhouse rating of six or higher.

This rating is equivalent to emissions of 220 grams a kilometre and excludes most locally made vehicles, excepting the Toyota Camry range and the 3.0-litre Holden Commodore. Ford’s imminent EcoBoost Falcon is expected to qualify when it is launched next year, as will the Holden Cruze when it goes into production here from March.

The opposition shadow minister for industry, innovation and science, Sophie Mirabella, has criticised the Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme as “ludicrously expensive”.

She claims the scheme will cost $394 for each tonne of CO2 emissions avoided, versus the proposed $30 a tonne price that was to be enshrined in the Emissions Trading Scheme, which the opposition and the Greens defeated in parliament.

Mrs Mirabella said the Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme could develop into a “fiasco” and would be ripe for abuse.

However, Senator Carr pointed out that his department had been administering the Liquefied Petroleum Gas scheme for some time without any mishaps.

“We are putting what could be described as very large explosive devices in the backs of people’s cars under that scheme,” the minister said.

“We have been able to avoid any major administrative problems with that.

“We’re dealing with small traders who fit the vehicles, so we have the administrative machinery available to do this (Cleaner Car Rebate program).

“We are going to apply it to a new scheme and I just want to be very thorough and careful about how this works.”

Senator Carr defended the scheme against arguments that the emissions created by manufacturing a new car were much greater than the emissions of an old, inefficient car that would be taken off the road.

“I can’t see that that is possibly right. This (scheme) is about vehicle emissions. We are trying to improve the current position on road transport.

“We can improve vehicle efficiency; there is no doubt about that. We are doing that through the Green Car Innovation Fund in Australia and we need to ensure that Australian-made cars are part of the scheme.

“The primary policy objective here is to reduce vehicle emissions on Australian roads, which currently contribute 12 per cent of total emissions and is the fastest growing area of emissions.

“I have to find a way to do that in a manner which is economically responsible … and ensure that we have sound administrative practices. We have to make sure it works.”

[Ben73]

This guy I used to work with has 5 **** boxes in his immediate family, the newest and best car he has is a 1997 Jackaroo, simply because he does not care what his car is as long as it works. This guy is getting paid above the Australian average wage, so he does not have these cheap cars because he is poor.
In theory could he trade in his 5 cars for $3000 each towards a new car?

This scheme will never work to my benefit because the cars I plan on buying in the future as less fuel efficient then what I own now. And I see they only pay if you pay a new fuel efficient car.

[388cube_edxr8]

Too bad the emissions produced building a new car (especially a Prius) are more than what an old car will produce in 50+ years of driving.

Someone wasn't thinking. I'm looking at you, Adolf Bligh.

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by 388cube_edxr8

Too bad the emissions produced building a new car (especially a Prius) are more than what an old car will produce in 50+ years of driving.

Someone wasn't thinking. I'm looking at you, Adolf Bligh.

Huh? Its not Qld.


As stated by the guy from the UK, it will be like the gas incentive, a great idea, but human nature will destroy any benfit, prices will rise by an equivalent amount. Tax dollars go to the manufacturers and no added benefit to the consumer. You already pay the difference between the incentive amount and the price, so that will be paying what it cost right now.

Worse, as stated, the price rise will stay after the incentive is gone.

Great idea, not worth doing.

[GK]

Another idea delayed or botched. What a surprise by this mob!

GK

[Joe5619]

I think the delay is a very good thing.. As it standards very few locally built cars would qualify. But when it does get released, we'll also have Curze, Diesel Territ & I4 Falcom.. I think the governemnt got this one right!!

[FPV8U]

Suits me.. makes the Mrs 94 Lantra Worth something..