Spoiling for a scrap

After weeks of claiming that there was definitely no money left in the kitty, Labour’s King of Spin, Lord Mandelson, mysteriously (yet oh-so-predictably) announced an extension to the motor industry scrappage scheme at the Labour Party Conference, in a sickeningly superficial act of gesture politics. With over a quarter of a million cars registered since the scheme was launched, it looks – on the face of it – to have been an overwhelming success. However, scratch a little more deeply and you begin to discover a different story.

With the amount of debt that Gordon Brown has lumbered the country with, the only realistic chance of ever repaying it is a concerted return to manufacturing. It’s often said that only manufacturing creates real wealth – everything else is just the same old money being moved around in circles. Sadly, the British consumer displays a bewildering lack of patriotism; most new cars sold in this country are manufactured overseas (only two cars in September’s Top 10 best-sellers were built here), a statistic that most people in France, Germany and Italy would find utterly incomprehensible.

So, the scrappage scheme is helping car factories in Germany (who build five of our Top 10), Korea (Hyundai had a record month thanks to the scheme) and numerous other countries, but offering very little real assistance to what is left of Britain’s car industry. Yep, the scheme helps the dealers, but they are not the only retailers struggling in this recession – why not similar aid for DIY stores, estate agents (did I really just say that?), even clothes shops – all of have been equally hard hit by the economic downturn.

Another reason to be sceptical of the scheme was the report in a recent edition of Autocar that featured a selection of some of the vehicles that had been traded-in and which were now heading for the crusher. There was a very nice Inca Yellow MGB GT – as the reporter put it, not mint condition but hardly scrap, whilst the person who was sending a decent condition 1960s Singer Gazelle to the ‘big car park in the sky’ should feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Quite frankly, I'd sooner see it's owner recycled for spares...