BRENTWOOD, Essex, 23 April 2009 – Ford welcomes the Government's announcement of a vehicle scrappage scheme. The scheme, which begins next month, combines £1,000 contributions each from the Government and vehicle manufacturers to provide a £2,000 discount against the purchase of a new vehicle when the owner scraps a vehicle over 10 years old.
Based on the information available so far, Ford plans to boost the potential of the Government's vehicle scrappage scheme with the addition of supplementary discounts on all its larger cars, which together represent savings of up to £4,500 on a new Ford Mondeo, for example.
As the UK's top selling vehicle brand for the last 32 years, Ford is already the favourite choice for new vehicle buyers, and this new Government scheme is set to increase the popularity of Ford's latest models, the Ka and Fiesta. For customers who require larger vehicles, but who struggle to find the extra cash, the blue oval is announcing a range of incremental offers, called "Scrappage Plus".
These Scrappage Plus discounts will be available over and above the Government and industry's shared £2,000 subsidy. They start at an additional £1,250 for a Ford Fusion and extend to £3,000 for a Ford Galaxy.
Nigel Sharp, Ford of Britain managing director, said: "This announcement from Ford and the Government is great news for the consumer as it will help a sizeable group of motorists, who otherwise could not afford it, to purchase a more stylish, safer and greener new Ford."
"We look forward to receiving full details of the programme and working with dealers to make the most of the scheme for our customers."
Ford's substantial backing of the Government's scheme will directly benefit more than 100,000 auto industry employees who depend on the company. Ford employs 13,000 in Britain, with engine research and production as well as body panel manufacture based here. Over 20,000 are employed within the national network of 650 Ford dealerships and more than 70,000 work for Ford suppliers based in Britain.
In welcoming the Government's scheme, environmental website Clean Green Cars (www.cleangreencars.co.uk) calculated the annual CO2 benefit of replacing old vehicles with the greenest new Ford equivalent. Based on the scheme only swapping 1998 Ford Focus 1.6 models for today's 65.6mpg Ford Focus ECOnetic, an annual saving of 120,000 tonnes of CO2 would be made – the equivalent output of over 40,000 homes.*
"Ford is taking a leadership role in this scrappage scheme and we will be helping all our new customers through the process," added Nigel. "We'll even collect a non-running eligible old car free of charge.
"Although very welcome, the extra sales we expect from this new scheme will only bring a depleted automotive market back up to levels of 15 years ago at best, so our sector still faces tough challenges."
* based on 300,000 cars and average annual mileage
Note: Fuel economy figures quoted are in UK mpg, are based on the European Fuel Economy Directive EU 80/1268/EEC and will differ from fuel economy drive cycle results in other regions of the world.