A total of 17,272 new cars were sold under the Government scrappage scheme according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). This is based on figures from Revenue.
Renault was the most popular brand under the scheme, with 19 percent of all cars coming from it, followed by Ford with 13.14 percent and Toyota with 10.83 percent. March was the busiest month for the scheme.
Speaking about the scheme, Alan Nolan, Director General of SIMI says, "With close to 17,500 scrappage cars sold last year, the Government Scheme provided the Industry with a real boost which saw overall business increase by over 50%. Ending the year with car sales up 55% on 2009, there is no doubt that this was directly due to the stimulus provided by the Scrappage Scheme. With the continuation of the scheme for the first six months of this year, we predict that a further 10,000 cars are likely to be sold under the Scheme. It will again, offer customers incredible value and will deliver significant additional revenues for the Exchequer. Last year, Scrappage Scheme cars alone generated €57m for the Government."