Germany’s successful scrappage incentive scheme has come to an end after the five billion euro (£4.38bn) pot set aside by the government ran out.
Customers had received a 2500 euro (£2200) discount off a car up to 12 months old when they traded in a car more than nine years old. In the last full month of the scheme in August, German sales were up 28 per cent.
Bafa, the agency which runs the scheme, said: “The last application has just come in.” The agency has now set up a waiting list in case any of the remaining 15,000 applications to be processed are rejected.
Around 275,000 new-car registrations took place in Germany in August bringing the total registered so far in 2009 to nearly 2.8 million, a gain of 26.8 percent year-on-year, according to the VDIK association of foreign carmakers.
Meanwhile, the French government has confirmed it will extend its own scrappage scheme into 2011.
Economy minister Christine Lagarde said: “We are looking at [extending the scheme for] two fiscal years for the moment, 2010, 2011 in addition to 2009.
“As successful as it has been we need to be successful in pulling out. We are looking at two fiscal years to make it truly gradual.”
The current French scheme was due to end in December.
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Re: German scrappage scheme ends
Clearly a much better system than we have! and much more money too!