Over 10,000 old cars disposed of in first week of scrappage scheme

More than 10,000 cars were scrapped in the first week after the launch of the "Rabla" (old car) scrappage scheme, that is 2,000 cars daily, four times more than in the same period of last year, and the Environment Fund Administration distributed 26,800 vouchers to firms collecting old cars, stated the Environment Ministry Laszlo Borbely. Vouchers are not nominal and can be sold to another person. This is why, despite the high volume of scrapped cars, these could be used for the acquisition of just 3,300 cars, if three vouchers are used for each new vehicle. Car importers have awaited the launch of the programme like a breath of fresh air, after car sales further dropped by over 50% in January, to around 4,500 units. As regards February, the market trend is an upward one, according to car dealers, with a rising number of clients being interested in purchasing a car. As an overall volume, car market players expect around 30,000 cars to be sold this year through the scrappage scheme, a volume similar with last year's, with the difference that the 60,000 vouchers made available by the Environment Ministry will be used up this time.