“The clunkers scheme must focus on less polluting cars. Instead of paying to drive used cars out of the circuit, we should use the money to spur purchases of eco cars. We are in talks at the level of the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA) and the Environment Ministry and there are several options at this moment,” said Zoltan Brassai, general manager of Ford Romania, in charge with sales activities on the Romanian car market and a member of the managing board of Ford’s plant in Craiova.
His statement comes several weeks after Attila Korodi, environment minister, said he wanted to maintain the clunkers scheme in 2015 as well, but also add moves to support low pollution cars.
At present, a ticket with a face value of EUR1,500 is obtained for a scrapped car, but the additional bonus for the acquisition of an “eco” car stands at just EUR110.
Zoltan Brassai believes the clunkers scheme is not necessarily encouraging car park renewal, as somebody can scrap a used car and with the money buy a car that can be even more polluting.
On the other hand, in the first half of this year the car market was not sustained only by the clunkers scheme, but also by an interest rate decline, which allowed for cheaper lending.
“The car market depends very much on funding. Funding improved both in lei and euro,” said Brassai.
Of the 3,300 passenger cars Ford sold in the first half of this year, over 80% were sold to companies, against a 72% average at the level of the domestic car market. “Companies came and renewed their fleets this year. Many of them bought fewer cars, as fleets bought in 2009 and 2010, when the market was higher, are now renewed. Moreover, there is also a downsizing, with many companies shifting from compact cars to small class ones,” said Ford manager.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)