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phenergn June 17, 2009 4:47 PM

There are literally millions of people in the UK that only want their car to be a dependable, reliable and good value form of transport. I think once those people have had a Ceed or i20 they are much less likely to go back to the more established brands that they will see as unnecessarily expensive.

Once the scrappage cash is gone and the bargain hunters all have a new car Hyundai and Kia will slip back down the rankings, but just wait a couple of years until those people need to trade up & I think they'll be straight back into their nearest Hyundai / Kia dealer.

TegTypeR June 17, 2009 5:27 PM

The scrappage scheme will probably go down in history as the turning point for Hyundai/Kia sales.  phenergn is right they will certainly see a lot of repeat sales, even non scrappage second car sales.

With their current range of cars, why the heck not though, competent and great value for money.  This is what happened in the states 20 years ago and look at the casualties now.  The "established" manufacturers had better sit up and take note or we may see history repeating itself in Europe this time.

Winston June 17, 2009 6:03 PM

Hyundai and to some extent Kia have actually sold out their 2009 production allocation. As a result, customers are switching to brands that haven't done so well to date, purely because they have production dates of a few weeks time.

jackjflash June 17, 2009 7:55 PM

"The "established" manufacturers had better sit up and take note or we may see history repeating itself in Europe this time."

I can’t see what good it will do to “sit up”; auto manufacturing keeps moving to where ever labor costs are the lowest. I don’t know for sure, but I reckon the average South Korean, Chinese or Mexican makes nowhere near what a union European or American worker makes. As someone else pointed out the quality only need be acceptable for most consumers; most people don’t fret over the small stuff as long as it is dependable and safe. Mercedes and BMW are both looking for partners so they can spread costs and manufacture some less expensive cars in scale to match the coming Audi/VW/Porsche juggernaut. One auto website has suggested a Merc /Honda alliance which kind of makes sense as they are both tech savvy companies and would both benefit from a larger scale of manufacturing. Oh and the history didn’t begin in America, remember British Leyland?

friend and alloy June 17, 2009 9:27 PM

What will prove to be really interesting is the public's reaction to full price cars once the scrappage scheme has run its course. I suspect there may be a continuing battle to win cash-strapped consumers with dealer/manufacturer offers. Lowering prices will surely raise expectations.

Mini1 June 17, 2009 11:37 PM

Skoda is another brand that are doing well - essentially cheaper Volkswagens! And they're brilliant. The Octavia is especially amazing value - you can get a brand new one with the scrappage scheme for as little as £8995 - and it's HUGE!!!

Monk June 18, 2009 6:50 PM

In the long term the companies that have concentrated on fleet sales and the user/chooser with a big company allowance to spend, may find the future a much tougher place to be.  People spending their own money are choosing very different cars from the ones we normally see at the top of the charts.

muddydrover June 30, 2009 12:49 AM

I am sure the scrappage scheme is a godsend to some marques, especially Hyundai and Kia whose cars are flying out of the dealerships. Not quite so good for the UK made cars as so few can compete on price with these eastern offerings. Most cars are now much the same regarding reliability, however the europeans cannot come close to the guarantee offered by the Koreans, the low price, reliability and peace of mind motoring. Makes sense when spending your own hard earned on a new car.

Unfortunately for some the scrappage deal is not so good when you see the exhorbitent amount of interest charged on a car loan, cash is definately king here. For some it would be cheaper to go for a discount,  a 0% finance deal and give your old car away.

Personally, I'd keep well clear of the scrappage deal.