Opel is set to record its best first quarter sales figures in a decade, thanks in part to the success of the German ‘scrappage’ trade-in incentive scheme, the company has announced.
Michael Klaus, Opel’s executive director of sales, marketing and aftersales, said Opel was expecting to receive more than 120,000 orders in the first quarter of 2009.
“That is the best result for Opel in the last 10 years,” he said.
Around two thirds of orders were for the Opel Insignia saloon, and just less than a quarter of the orders had come from Germany alone.
These figures don’t include Vauxhall sales, which have also been faring reasonably well. Vauxhall sold more vehicles in the UK than any other manufacturer in February, and it has orders on its books for more than 23,000 Vauxhall Insignias.
But while the UK considers the introduction of a scrappage scheme, the German government already pays a car buyer 2500 Euros (£2325) towards the cost of a car up to 12 months old if they scrap a car more than nine years old.
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