Figures released by the Irish Motor Industry's representative body, the SIMI show that 17,272 reclaims were made under the government Scrappage Scheme in 2010. (Some Scrappage Scheme cars sold in December 2010 will not be processed until January/February 2011 so these are interim results pending the processing of the final December Scrappage refunds).
Whilst the industry is understandably encouraged by the success of the scrappage scheme other commentators point out that the Government's tax return might not be as good as it could have been.
Incredible Value
Speaking about the scheme, Alan Nolan, Director General of SIMI says, “With close to 17,500 scrappage cars sold last year, the Government Scheme provided the Industry with a real boost which saw overall business increase by over 50%. Ending the year with car sales up 55% on 2009, there is no doubt that this was directly due to the stimulus provided by the Scrappage Scheme.
With the continuation of the scheme for the first six months of this year SIMI predicts that a further 10,000 cars are likely to be sold under the Scheme. "It will again, offer customers incredible value and will deliver significant additional revenues for the Exchequer. Last year, Scrappage Scheme cars alone generated €57m for the Government.” said Mr. Nolan. “Although it is very early days to be drawing any conclusions, so far this year, footfall in showrooms has been strong, again largely due to the Scrappage Scheme, and this bodes well for the year ahead.”
Tax Take to Decline
However Paddy Comyn at CompleteCar.ie points out that it's not all about the revenue generated day one. The ongoing returns from Road tax will continue to drop as more and more buyers opt for vehicles in band A and B, the cheapest bands for annual road tax. "In 2010 the Government gained an extra 17.5 per cent on VAT and VRT on new cars, but this is after a horrific time in 2009 when there was an 85 per cent collapse in VRT receipts in January of that year compared with January 2008. The other difficulty is that imports have more or less dried up and as a result, the government has actually lost significant amounts on this too."
Listed below are the latest statistics for purchases under the Scrappage Scheme
| Top 10 Brands | ||||
| Make | Units | % share | ||
| Renault | 3343 | 19.36% | ||
| Ford | 2269 | 13.14% | ||
| Toyota | 1870 | 10.83% | ||
| Skoda | 1665 | 9.64% | ||
| Volkswagen | 1590 | 9.21% | ||
| Kia | 1009 | 5.84% | ||
| Hyundai | 905 | 5.24% | ||
| Nissan | 896 | 5.19% | ||
| Opel | 884 | 5.12% | ||
| Peugeot | 535 | 3.10% | ||
| Scrappage Figures by Manufacturer | ||||
| Make | Units | %share | ||
| Alfa Romeo | 8 | 0.05% | ||
| Audi | 65 | 0.38% | ||
| BMW | 45 | 0.26% | ||
| Chevrolet | 135 | 0.78% | ||
| Citroen | 132 | 0.76% | ||
| Daihatsu | 3 | 0.02% | ||
| Fiat | 524 | 3.03% | ||
| Ford | 2269 | 13.14% | ||
| Honda | 82 | 0.47% | ||
| Hyundai | 905 | 5.24% | ||
| Kia | 1009 | 5.84% | ||
| Lexus | 3 | 0.02% | ||
| Mazda | 440 | 2.55% | ||
| Mercedes- Benz | 14 | 0.08% | ||
| Mini | 31 | 0.18% | ||
| Mitsubishi | 125 | 0.72% | ||
| Nissan | 896 | 5.19% | ||
| Opel | 884 | 5.12% | ||
| Perodua | 10 | 0.06% | ||
| Peugeot | 535 | 3.10% | ||
| Renault | 3343 | 19.36% | ||
| Saab | 1 | 0.01% | ||
| Seat | 478 | 2.77% | ||
| Skoda | 1665 | 9.64% | ||
| Subaru | 10 | 0.06% | ||
| Suzuki | 124 | 0.72% | ||
| Toyota | 1870 | 10.83% | ||
| Volkswagen | 1590 | 9.21% | ||
| Volvo | 76 | 0.44% | ||
| Total | 17272 | 100.00% | ||
| Scrappage Figures by Category | ||||
| Category | Units | % share | ||
| Category A cars | 8729 | 49.00% | ||
| Category B cars | 8543 | 51.00% | ||
| 17272 | 100.00% | |||
| Scrappage by Month | ||||
| Month | Units | % share | ||
| January | 1495 | 8.66% | ||
| February | 1808 | 10.47% | ||
| March | 2363 | 13.68% | ||
| April | 1781 | 10.31% | ||
| May | 1643 | 9.51% | ||
| June | 1695 | 9.81% | ||
| July | 1475 | 8.54% | ||
| August | 1436 | 8.31% | ||
| September | 1627 | 9.42% | ||
| October | 1294 | 7.49% | ||
| November | 597 | 3.46% | ||
| December | 58 | 0.34% | ||
| 17272 | 100.00% | |||
| Scrappage by County | ||||
| County | Units | % share | ||
| Cork | 2576 | 14.91% | ||
| Clare | 552 | 3.20% | ||
| Cavan | 225 | 1.30% | ||
| Carlow | 198 | 1.15% | ||
| Dublin | 4330 | 25.07% | ||
| Donegal | 581 | 3.36% | ||
| Galway | 1022 | 5.92% | ||
| Kildare | 639 | 3.70% | ||
| Kilkenny | 347 | 2.01% | ||
| Kerry | 711 | 4.12% | ||
| Longford | 140 | 0.81% | ||
| Louth | 411 | 2.38% | ||
| Limerick | 845 | 4.89% | ||
| Letrim | 103 | 0.60% | ||
| Laois | 259 | 1.50% | ||
| Meath | 575 | 3.33% | ||
| Monaghan | 157 | 0.91% | ||
| Mayo | 456 | 2.64% | ||
| Offaly | 249 | 1.44% | ||
| Roscommon | 287 | 1.66% | ||
| Sligo | 310 | 1.79% | ||
| Tipperary | 599 | 3.47% | ||
| Waterford | 400 | 2.32% | ||
| Westmeath | 329 | 1.90% | ||
| Wicklow | 486 | 2.81% | ||
| Wexford | 485 | 2.81% | ||
| 17272 | 100.00% | |||