HELSINKI: Automobile industry businessmen expect car sales to gain momentum as a scrapping scheme trial begins next week. Owners of old cars will get Euro 1,500 discount upon the purchase of a new car after sending an old end-of-life vehicle to the scrap.
Automobile traders believe the scrapping scheme would result in the purchase of about 3,000 to 5,000 new cars. Last time the automobile industry achieved its car sales target was at the beginning of 2,000s, said Antti Ruhanen from the Automobile Importers’ Association in Finland.
According to Ruhanen, car sales have been particularly bad for the last 7 years to 8 years. The car tax relief entered in the government programme is short of what the car industry expected. The car tax relief will be implemented starting next year until end of the parliamentary term in 2019.
According to Ruhanen, the car tax relief policy direction is right but its timing is lame. “We in the industry hoped that the tax relief would have been greater at once and faster,” Ruhanen said. Currently, three million euros has been earmarked for the scrapping scheme. However, if the surge in trade becomes lively, the funding is expected to come short.
