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New car sales fell again last month with new registrations down 30.5 percent against March 2008.



£2k incentives for scrap cars proposedThe figures prompted renewed calls from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders for the government to introduce a subsidised scrappage plan in its forthcoming budget. March is usually the highest volume month for new car sales, suggesting there may still be worse to come.

In contrast, Germany reported sales soaring by 40 percent last month as customers took advantage of the scrappage subsidies already in place there. The strong German figure helped constrain the year-on-year March sales slide across Western Europe as a whole to a drop of just 7.2 percent according to JD Power analysis.

The SMMT wants the government to introduce a £2000 per car scrappage incentive for drivers trading in old cars for new ‘cleaner’ models. According to chief exec Paul Everitt, the UK is the only major European market not to have implemented such a scheme.

Aside from the cost to taxpayers, the treasury is reportedly concerned by counter-arguments that a scheme would benefit carmakers from outside the UK, and also that any demand pulled forward will be lost later when incentives are removed.