AutoTrader.co.uk, the UK’s largest motoring website, is pleased with the Government’s decision to approve plans for a £2,000 Vehicle Scrappage Incentive Scheme.
Auto Trader believes the solution to the problems for the car industry lies in stimulating consumer demand and regaining consumer confidence – part of which is the Vehicle Scrappage Incentive Scheme.
The scheme is designed to allow owners of cars and light vans producing more than 150g/km CO2 and more than eight years old to be entitled to a £2,000 discount on the purchase of a new or nearly new car or van, which is bought via a dealership.
Owners of the old vehicles would have to deliver it to a special car recycling plant to receive a certificate of scrapping, which they would then hand into a dealer to receive the Government-funded £2,000 discount.
A similar scheme in Germany, created to encourage motorists to scrap old cars and buy new ones, has already boosted sales by almost a quarter in February 2009, which was the highest level for the month of February in 10 years and has been hailed a huge economic success.
Matt Thompson, Marketing Director at Auto Trader, comments: “We are delighted that the Government has approved plans to introduce the new Vehicle Scrappage Incentive Scheme. We think we can also add a great deal as the no1 motoring marketplace as we reach most motorists and do business with virtually every UK dealer.
“Right now we have over 20,000 vehicles on our site that would qualify. Now that the scheme is approved, we will communicate to all motorists on Auto Trader whose vehicle qualifies, provide an easy guide to the scheme and introduce them to their appropriate local dealer if they were interested. We will also support the Government by communicating the scheme either directly to motorists or through our editorial pages – with over 10m motorists using the Auto Trader site each month we could play a big part in making this scheme a success.
“We will also work with dealers to clearly ‘badge’ nearly new cars that qualify and we are also looking into other tools that will help dealers to take advantage of this new scheme.
“We believe this initiative can go even further than industry experts predict to help motorists and dealers during this period of economic difficulty. This is the best solution we’ve seen because it is targeted at the motorist and we have evidence already from Germany that it actually makes a material difference.”
AutoTrader.co.uk is the world of cars made easy – from new and used cars to insurance and finance, along with advice and solutions to help reduce the cost of motoring.
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Notes to Editor:
• AutoTrader.co.uk is the UK’s no 1 motoring website, with over 10.3 million monthly unique users, who carry out over 106 million searches on new and used vehicles*. The brand is building a competitive position across all effective channels including online, mobile and magazine. (*Source: Auto Trader Audit, January 2009).
• AutoTrader.co.uk is owned by Trader Media Group, one of Europe’s largest specialist multi-media groups and provider of market leading websites and their associated magazines, including Top Marques, Bike Trader, Truck & Plant Trader, Ad Trader, Motorhome and Caravan Trader, Farmers Trader – all with the largest reach in their sectors, through web visitors and magazine readership.
• Trader Media Group operates in the UK, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The Group is looking to expand on its winning formula: giving trade customers the opportunity to choose all effective channels to market; building the service and relationship with dealers and manufacturers; and strengthening its portfolio of automotive and specialist classified titles.
• Trader Media Group is jointly owned by Guardian Media Group and Apax Partners
For further information, please contact:
Karen Hughes/Caroline Burnell
The Drum Consultancy
Tel: 020 7025 8044
Fax: 020 7025 8100
Email: caroline@thedrumconsultancy.co.uk
