Car sales down 30% in first 10 days as scrappage scheme take up is poor

[maxthedog]

Are you being deliberately stupid here?

"money tied up", that is money put aside waiting to be given to people who buy qualifying cars. Is that how you think it works?

No! How I thinkit works is that, people who should be paying 1500.

Don`t

Thanks to a FF scam with their donating buddies. (Bill Cullen)

But I still think it is real money,

Not some makeyuppy FF money

[tonic]

No! How I thinkit works is that, people who should be paying 1500.

Don`t

Thanks to a FF scam with their donating buddies. (Bill Cullen)

But I still think it is real money,

Not some makeyuppy FF money

Why do I bother.

[rockofcashel]

Why do I bother.

I wonder myself

[neutral_lurker]

The people of this country are still been robbed by car dealers, end of. Mark ups of anything from 20 to 50% of the going rates. I hope people continue not to buy from them, til their prices are more realistic.

I agree with Cameleon the prices are ridiculous

[bessiebell]

A key realtime indicator of economic activity are the level of car sales and Matt Cooper was interviewing a guy who says that there appears to have been a very slow take up of the scrappage scheme to date although he suggested that it could be a slow burner through the year as vehicles reach their 10th year of registration. Sales in the first 10 days of the year are down 30% on 2009 at circa 5k. Although weather could still be a factor and that may change by the end of the month. January accounts for 24% of annual sales.

Any news of how February's sales are going? Anecdotally (from people in the trade) I heard they were 50 per cent up on last February. When will official figures be published?

[kerrynorth]

Any news of how February's sales are going? Anecdotally (from people in the trade) I heard they were 50 per cent up on last February. When will official figures be published?

According to motorcheck.ie it looks as if February new car registrations are up over 50% from 7896 to 12310.

[Libero]

That is not the point. In Ireland every car sold under the scheme will bring in more tax than the value of the 1500 discount, in Germany because their tax take is much lower on all cars and depending on the value of the discount offered they could end up losing money on sales of cars made outside their country.

There's a gap in that analysis.

If the motor scrappage scheme didn't exist, the money attracted by the scheme, and spent on cars (producing tax revenue) wouldn't just sit unused. Some of it would be spent on other purchases, producing a certain level of tax revenue. Since the scrappage scheme does exist, it follows that it is attracting money (and resultant tax revenue) from those other types of purchases.

Accordingly, it's quite incomplete to look at the motor scrappage scheme and assess it on the basis of whether it produces a higher tax take from car sales. One also has to ask to what extent it reduces the tax take from other types of purchases.

I'm not aware that any such analysis has been carried out by the government.

The whole scheme has been criticised by an academic economist, who asks why we don't have a handbag scrappage scheme since that, too, could be constructed to say it generates more tax revenue.

The name of that academic economist? Colm McCarthy. The Irish Economy Blog Archive The Economics of ‘Something Must be Done’

[tonic]

There's a gap in that analysis.

If the motor scrappage scheme didn't exist, the money attracted by the scheme, and spent on cars (producing tax revenue) wouldn't just sit unused. Some of it would be spent on other purchases, producing a certain level of tax revenue. Since the scrappage scheme does exist, it follows that it is attracting money (and resultant tax revenue) from those other types of purchases.

Accordingly, it's quite incomplete to look at the motor scrappage scheme and assess it on the basis of whether it produces a higher tax take from car sales. One also has to ask to what extent it reduces the tax take from other types of purchases.

I'm not aware that any such analysis has been carried out by the government.

The whole scheme has been criticised by an academic economist, who asks why we don't have a handbag scrappage scheme since that, too, could be constructed to say it generates more tax revenue.

The name of that academic economist? Colm McCarthy. The Irish Economy Blog Archive The Economics of ‘Something Must be Done’

Hard to see the added value to the economy in handbags.

How many are employed in servicing handbags?
How much tax is collected on fuel for handbags?
How much VRT is paid on handbags?
What is the yearly handbag tax for a 2L handbag?
What can you do in the back of a handbag?

These are the questions, is Colm McCarthy the answer?

[Cassandra Syndrome]

According to motorcheck.ie it looks as if February new car registrations are up over 50% from 7896 to 12310.

For the year so far the number of cars sold is 21.6% higher than last year. However it is 56% lower than 2008.

[orbit]

The name of that academic economist? Colm McCarthy. The Irish Economy Blog Archive The Economics of ‘Something Must be Done’

Thanks for posting that. I like this bit:

In contrast, the Economics of Doing Nothing is that this is often the best policy, and the cheapest.

So, true, and doubtless the greatest source of frustration for go-getting, newly elected politicians, who want to "make a difference".