7:44 am, July 6, 2020
A scrappage scheme has been the green light by the Italian government to incentivise people to buy new electric cars, but also cleaner petrol, diesel, hybrid models.
The country’s capital, Rome, will tempt buyers into Euro 6 models costing less than 40,000 euros (£36,126) with an incentive of 3,500 euros (£3,161), if they scrap cars that are 10 years old or more, according to Reuters.
The scheme will start in August and will run until December, with the costs being split between dealers and the government.
Along with the scrappage scheme, subsidies for electric and hybrid cars will also be increased – figures show electric cars accounted for just 0.56 per cent of total Italian registrations, with hybrids at 6.1 per cent, last year.
The Rome scrappage scheme differs from other incentive programmes around Europe as it includes clean Euro 6 petrols, diesels and hybrids as well as electric cars.
Other governments in Europe, such as Germany and France, haven’t included petrols, diesels and hybrids into an incentive scheme, instead focusing on electric cars only.
The news of the Italian scheme comes less than a week after the UK government ruled out any plans for incentivising car buyers with a scrappage scheme.
It had been rumoured Boris Johnson would announce an incentive package giving buyers £6,000 off the price of an EV.
But the government poured water on those rumours last week, making many in the industry wonder if the government will announce a VAT cut instead to boost new car sales.
Is a VAT cut a better way to boost demand than a car scrappage scheme – and is a cut on the way?
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