What's the news?
Cartell.ie, Ireland's vehicle history and data expert, says that there are almost 475,000 vehicles running on our roads that could be eligible for attractive manufacturer diesel scrappage schemes.
As more and more moves are made by both the automotive industry and legislative bodies to encourage motorists to take up electric and low-emission vehicles in the coming years, it is believed that any machine at EU4 emissions standards or lower (i.e. older) could be chopped in as part-exchange on a much newer, greener vehicle.
To that end, Cartell.ie has found that the total number of private diesel cars in the Irish fleet that are EU4 or lower amounts to 474,624.
Of this number, the vast majority (355,546) are EU4, dating back to 1998 and including 167 units registered as late as this year. EU3 vehicles (also 1998-2017) make up a further 106,500 units, while there are 12,457 EU2 cars on the roads, these vehicles first registered in 1996.
Incredibly, there are still 121 EU1 diesels running in Ireland - this legislation coming into force way back in 1993. Of these ageing diesels soldiering on, 70 are 1996 models, 44 were registered in 1997, four in 1998, two in 2000 and one hit the roads as late as 2001.
Jeff Aherne, Cartell.ie's director engineer, said: "Vehicle manufacturers such as BMW are clearly making moves to take older diesel-powered vehicles off the road. We feel the market has reached tipping point now and the consumer is ready to adopt low-emission vehicles if the incentives are there. The numbers we are publishing today show the manufacturers can make considerable inroads by focusing simply on EU4 emission standard vehicles and below where there are almost half a million vehicles in play."
Anything else?
The news of scrappage incentive schemes, such as this one being offered by BMW in Ireland, comes in the wake of two major countries in Europe saying they will no longer allow the sale of solely combustion-engined cars from the year 2040 and onwards - those countries being France and the UK. More countries are likely to follow their lead, as worries over environmental pollution caused by NOx exhaust gases continue to intensify.