Finland Times

 

The government plans to launch a trial incentive program for car scrappage aimed at promoting car sales, as well as lowering emissions and improving traffic safety, reported national broadcaster YLE on Tuesday.

Finns drive the oldest cars in western Europe. Currently, the average car on the road is more than 11-and-a-half years old and more than 10 percent of cars are over 20 years old in Finland.

The Finnish government plans to allocate 3 million euros to a trial incentive program for car scrappage, encouraging Finns to get rid of their old vehicles and replace them with new and lower-emission models.

The 6-month pilot scrappage program would start in July, 2015, if approved by Finnish parliament.

During the trial period, anyone who buys a new, low-emission car and scraps a car which is 10 years old or older will get a rebate of 1,500 euros, of which 1,000 euros would be funded by the government, the remaining 500 euros paid by the importer.

Lowering the average age of cars in traffic would have both environmental and safety benefits and at the same time stimulate sluggish automotive sales, said the government.

Affected by the economic downturn, in the past six years the general stock of cars has clearly aged, as only about 100,000 new cars have been sold in Finland, Jari Kivela, head of car sales at Delta Auto told YLE.

Kivela added that any kind of reforms that would stimulate the car business in Finland were welcome.