Oneswoop Insider: the scrappage scheme
Summary
The scrappage scheme has not changed car buying habits in the UK but has merely magnified them, Askaprice.com data has found.
As reported here last week, the overwhelming conclusion to be drawn in terms of the impact of the scrappage incentive has been that it pulled buyers out of their traditional trends-away from September and October and towards the first months of the year.
Information from Askaprice.com however has cast doubt on that conclusion.
The scrappage scheme has not changed the face of the UK motor industry in 2009 and 2010, according to Askaprice.com, instead it has magnified trends that were already in position.
The car buying website has found that in 2008 and 2009, before the introduction of the government incentive, UK buyers were already showing a propensity to purchase in the first quarter of the year.
As mentioned, the early year buying trends of 2010 had almost without question been aligned to scrappage yet this was already happening in the years prior to its introduction.
Overall leads in to Askaprice.com were at their highest in January, February and March of 2008, 2009 and 2010 and as Askaprice.com delved a little deeper, they also found the same trends for individual manufacturers.
Ford enquiries-the UK’s leading manufacturer-followed the same model with the first three months of the last three years proving its best.
During the scheme, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported an improvement in the UK industry, even as early as July 2009:
"We are beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations," said Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT.
He continued:"SMMT expects the pace of improvement to increase in the coming months, but we can already see the industry making steady progress on the long road to recovery."
While these conclusions were correct in the short-term they have proved optimistic as the progress achieved by the scheme has somewhat stalled sales since its conclusion, without necessarily changing car-buying trends in the UK.