Car scrapping boosts new sales
Car firms saw a 7% rise in sales last month – with one in five purchases being tied to the prime à la casse scheme
CAR sales have been boosted due to the effects of prime à la casse – money paid for scrapping an old car – with sales up 7% in June.
The latest rise has meant that over the past six months new car sales have stayed stable, with a minimal rise of 0.2%.
Manufacturers’ figures show that one in five new sales has been tied to the scheme and it has been more successful than expected as it has hit its 200,000 sales target in six months instead of a year.
The €1000 payment was introduced in December for a year and car firms say that the closure must be handled with care. They are asking the government to phase it out gradually.
Rising new car sales has meant that the total market – including secondhand – has slowed to a 16% decline in overall sales, down from a 39% decline in May.
New sales at Peugeot Citroën were up 12.7% in June, with Citroën sales alone rising 15%. Renault car sales were up 5.6%.
Despite this, Peugeot Citroën group is set to lose between one and two billion euros this year with Renault also heading for the red.
Of the foreign brands, Nissan saw an increase of nearly 37% but Toyota was down 16%, while BMW fell 11%.
