Ford launches £2,000 car scrappage scheme

Ford has unveiled a scrappage scheme for cars and vans as it seeks to increase its sales in the UK market and get some of the older vehicles off the road.

The scheme will apply to cars and vans that are at least seven years old and fitted with a pre-Euro V standard engine. All the vehicles that meet the requirement will be eligible for the scrappage incentive against a range of Ford vehicles.

The incentive can raise to up to £7,000 for customers who trade in an old vehicle and want to purchase a Ford Transit van, while customers can get £4,000 off the cost of a new car.

A number of other car manufacturers, including Vauxhall, BMW and Mercedes, have launched similar schemes this year, although the latter two only accept diesel cars, while in Ford's case the scheme covers petrol cars as well.

More unusually, Ford's plans allow customers to trade in an old vehicle from any manufacturer until December.

The US car giant believes the move will take hundreds of thousands of the least environment-friendly vehicles off the road and replace them with models of the latest Euro VI standard engines

"Ford shares society's concerns over air quality," said Andy Barratt, chairman and managing director of Ford of Britain.

"Removing generations of the most polluting vehicles will have the most immediate positive effect on air quality, and this Ford scrappage scheme aims to do just that.

"We don't believe incentivising sales of new cars goes far enough and we will ensure that all trade-in vehicles are scrapped."

The scheme is also understood to be aimed at reviving sales in the flagging UK car market, which recorded a 9% drop in July amid uncertainty over Brexit and a squeeze on lending. The decline came after years of consistent growth and the new car market is expected to fall by 2.6% over the course of 2017.

"These initiatives are obviously there to boost sales of new cars, but if they are going to take polluting diesel cars off the road, then that has to be a good thing," Edmund King, president of the AA, was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

"I expect other manufacturers will follow suit and offer diesel drivers incentives to trade in, as it is attractive for them to do."