In Germany they just get on and do it.

Splatt

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Germany increases car subsidy to €5bn
Germany is more than tripling the incentives on offer to buyers of new cars as it attempts to boost its auto industry, which employs around 15pc of the nation's workforce.

The scheme offers German consumers €2,500 for trading in vehicles more than nine years old if they buy a car that is less than one year old.

Can`t see the Brown crowd doing anything as positive as this !! After all our car manufacturing only amounts to foreign owned plants assembling bits made abroad .

How did this country become so industrially destitute and what future is there for us ?

Thoughts please to http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page821
 
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Alex M Grieve

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How did this country become so industrially destitute and what future is there for us ?

IIRC "Red Robboes'" mass meetings at BL were more memorable than their cars. Does that help us comprehend the demise of the British car industry?
 

Dosco

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IIRC "Red Robboes'" mass meetings at BL were more memorable than their cars. Does that help us comprehend the demise of the British car industry?

No, but the very poor quality, lack of innovative design does! oh yes and the innate management practices that allowed Red Robboe to gain ground does.
 

Mr Teddy Bear

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No, but the very poor quality, lack of innovative design does! oh yes and the innate management practices that allowed Red Robboe to gain ground does.

The rewriting of historical 'fact' based around the BMW inspired 'death throes' Longbridge offerings is clouding the memory.:(

Consider; Morris Mini Minor
Land Rover
The Iconic Rover P5B V8
Morris Garages
Morris Minor Traveler
Rover 75
Any visit to a classic car event in th UK will reveal that the majority of cherished vehicle brands are BLMC.
 

roadhog

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Germany increases car subsidy to €5bn
Germany is more than tripling the incentives on offer to buyers of new cars as it attempts to boost its auto industry, which employs around 15pc of the nation's workforce.

The scheme offers German consumers €2,500 for trading in vehicles more than nine years old if they buy a car that is less than one year old.

Can`t see the Brown crowd doing anything as positive as this !! After all our car manufacturing only amounts to foreign owned plants assembling bits made abroad .

How did this country become so industrially destitute and what future is there for us ?

Thoughts please to http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page821

They may have but it's hugely controversial.
Most financial/economic advisers told them not to but they have elections looming on the horizon. Nobody knows the true cost or value of the incentive. People are making use of it as it is seen as a handout from the government. Not many people seem to realise that someone has to pay for it and that that someone is going to be the tax payer i.e. themselves.
There is a finite time limit on the action, it ends at year end. So everybody rushes out and buys a car before then. What happens next year? Nobody is going to want to buy a car. It just delays things a bit.
There is also some doubt as to which sector of the market this will actually stimulate, if any. People who are tempted or persuaded by €2500 are more likely to be buying in the small (cheap) car sector. So any manufacturer of small cars may see a temporary increase but what about the big three? Can you see the sales of S class going up as a result? Not likely. The German tax payer is putting his/her hand in his/her pocket to prop up foreign manufacturers. Commendable.
The value of second hand cars is affected as well. You may get some money off your new motor but the old one is worth less to start with.
That's before you get to the environmental considerations. Is building a new car really greener than running a well maintained older one? I was watching some report which said that making a car results in as much CO2 as a used car produces in two years. Read up on Toyota's 'green' Prius and how much energy is wasted in making it. Running it may be green but making it isn't.
There is now reports of backlogs at scrapyards as a result of this scheme. How many saucepans do you need? There's also a huge backlog in applications, the true extend of this won't be revealed for some time. Most likely not until after the elections anyway.

Conspiracy theorists might argue that this is the first step to getting older cars off the road all together. Personally, I like running my W124. I wouldn't be too impressed if in a couple years the government were to tell me that I can't use it any more as I'm not contributing to the job market by not buying a new car every two years. Perhaps they'll tax me off the road?
 

psmart

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They may have but it's hugely controversial.
Most financial/economic advisers told them not to but they have elections looming on the horizon. Nobody knows the true cost or value of the incentive. People are making use of it as it is seen as a handout from the government. Not many people seem to realise that someone has to pay for it and that that someone is going to be the tax payer i.e. themselves.
There is a finite time limit on the action, it ends at year end. So everybody rushes out and buys a car before then. What happens next year? Nobody is going to want to buy a car. It just delays things a bit.
There is also some doubt as to which sector of the market this will actually stimulate, if any. People who are tempted or persuaded by €2500 are more likely to be buying in the small (cheap) car sector. So any manufacturer of small cars may see a temporary increase but what about the big three? Can you see the sales of S class going up as a result? Not likely. The German tax payer is putting his/her hand in his/her pocket to prop up foreign manufacturers. Commendable.
The value of second hand cars is affected as well. You may get some money off your new motor but the old one is worth less to start with.
That's before you get to the environmental considerations. Is building a new car really greener than running a well maintained older one? I was watching some report which said that making a car results in as much CO2 as a used car produces in two years. Read up on Toyota's 'green' Prius and how much energy is wasted in making it. Running it may be green but making it isn't.
There is now reports of backlogs at scrapyards as a result of this scheme. How many saucepans do you need? There's also a huge backlog in applications, the true extend of this won't be revealed for some time. Most likely not until after the elections anyway.

Conspiracy theorists might argue that this is the first step to getting older cars off the road all together. Personally, I like running my W124. I wouldn't be too impressed if in a couple years the government were to tell me that I can't use it any more as I'm not contributing to the job market by not buying a new car every two years. Perhaps they'll tax me off the road?
The German government has been trying to phase out older cars, the Umwelt system is just one example. Many cars either Are or will be, in the near future, barred from City centres such as Hannover, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart etc. If you have a car which is plated Red/Yellow, then its life is limited and its value falling quickly. Sales this year of new cars have exceeded previous years and there is a motion to extend the scheme beyond this fiscal year.
Small car sales will benefit, but that BMW or Mercedes owner who has had his car 9 years from new most probably wont be trading down to a Fiesta. Diesel owners whose car is between 5-9 years wont benefit from this scheme even though they will be hit as their cars are branded Red/Yellow!
 

roadhog

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The scheme will end at year end or when the pot of €5bn runs dry.
 

psmart

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The scheme will end at year end or when the pot of €5bn runs dry.
Normally the chattering classes say more than what the politicians do, and my colleagues think differently as to when it will end/funds used. Most dont agree with the scheme though!
 

Alex M Grieve

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From todays papers Mandy (Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.) is hot to trot with a cash to scrap scheme immediately but the Brown Brigade are blocking it. Mandy is said to be miffed.

Clearly not accustomed to being blocked ..............:rolleyes:
 

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