Late start to car scrappage scheme sees car sales down again

The scrapping of cars older than ten years started at the end of March, but the results of the scheme have yet to be seen in terms of sales.

Car sales on the Romanian market fell nearly six percent in the first quarter of this year, to nearly 17,900 units, according to statistics of players in the car industry. The first-quarter decline comes amid an over 30% decline in car sales in March, to 7,200 units. The over 30% difference between March this year and March last year mainly has to do with the car scrappage scheme being postponed. This year it started on March 18th, while last year it started at the end of February.

"This year the scrappage scheme took longer to start. The hindrance now is the "grey" market of vouchers. Those who scrap cars and trade vouchers are hanging on to them in order to get as high a price as possible," says Alin Tapalagă, head of Porsche Inter Auto, the retail division of Porsche Romania, the biggest player on the market. Tapalagă said those who have scrapped cars or hold vouchers increased their prices from 1,200 lei last year to as much as over 1,700 lei.

The statements of the head of Porsche Inter Auto are confirmed by the statistics of the Administration of the Environmental Fund (AFM). Almost three weeks from the start of this year's scheme, more than 16,100 old cars have been scrapped, but no application has been approved by the AFM, so no car has been delivered as part of the scheme yet.