All aboard the scrappage bandwagon

Some dealers, either buoyed by the success they are having, keen to arrest a decline or attempting to wring out a bit more marketing juice and bask in some reflected glory from the success of the government backed incentive, are introducing their own scrappage “initiatives”. Mitsubishi, for instance, are giving a minimum £2,000 on cars registered between1999 and 2004 (the government scheme covers cars registered on or before August 31st 1999). Looking at the recently published new car registration figures and a near 56% year to date decline it is perhaps no wonder that Mitsubishi, with competitive finance deals and flexible terms, are looking at such a radical promotion to re-ignite their new car sales.

If we take out the 212 new cars Mitsubishi sold and registered to customers under the government scrappage scheme in June they are left with 931 units for the month and a pretty disastrous 35% decline on June last year

The offer is only at participating dealers and the £2,000 guarantee is subject to dealer “discretion” and perhaps the only catch is the fact that cars registered in this extended period will often more likely be worth more than £2,000 anyway.

So is this ‘deal’, and one like it, really nothing more than a £2,000 minimum part exchange allowance? Again do we come back to marketing and a little bit of shameless bandwagon jumping, or is there something we are missing?