Production of Renault Twingo, other French minicars up thanks to scrappage plans
Click above for a high res gallery of the Renault Twingo
German car sales shot up after that country started a plan that paid owners of old cars to scrap their rides and buy new ones. It worked so well that the UK and the U.S. quickly started thinking about putting similar plans in place. Automotive News Europe (subs req'd) gives us another reason (four, actually) to think that these plans work, and work well, in getting people to buy a new car.
There are scrapping incentives in four of the biggest markets in Europe (Germany, France, Italy and Spain), ANE writes, and these are leading to increased demand for small cars, especially French minicars like the Renault Twingo (up 8.9 percent) and the Citroën C1 (up 9.4 percent). Sure, overall sales are still down, but the scrappage incentives are meant to get newer, more efficient cars on the road to replace older, dirtier vehicles, and they're working. Slowly but surely.
Gallery: Renault Twingo eco2
[Source: ANE]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rich 4:49PM (3/23/2009)
Well, maybe if I could buy one of those smaller high mpg diesels from Europe I'd scrap my old car. But the options on the market in the US are very limited (for my needs).
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DelCid 10:43AM (4/21/2009)
The American public is already conditioned to think that once their car is paid off, they should turn it in and get something new again. People need to realize that buying used cars are more cost effective and a better value for the money spent. http://www.delcidauto.com
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