AA Personal Loans welcomes Darling’s Deals for New Wheels

AA Personal Loans welcomed the Chancellor's plans for a vehicle scrappage scheme whereby the car owners will receive a benefit of £2,000 (£1000 government grant and £1000 from manufacturers) if they cash in vehicles registered before 31 December 1999.

Commenting, Mark Huggins, director of AA Loans, says: "The AA has been pressing the Government to introduce such a scheme, which has been a success in other European countries, as a means of providing a boost for the ailing motor industry and help replace old, gross polluting vehicles with cleaner, greener and safer vehicles.

"We're delighted that Mr. Darling's Budget has recognised the benefit of this scheme. The pot of £300 million could benefit 300,000 drivers and, coupled with a typical car loan of £8,000 could bring a brand new car within reach of many families for the first time.

"Indeed, in an AA/Populus poll of 17,481 drivers 28% said that they would consider taking advantage of a Government incentive scheme to scrap older cars if one was available."

AA Personal Loans is currently offering a market-leading rate to AA members of 8.0 per cent typical APR on loans of £7,000 to £25,000.

Mark Huggins also welcomed the simplicity of the new scheme which appears not to have any complex qualifications that must be met for families to benefit. He points out that if every ten year old vehicle in the UK was replaced with its new equivalent there would be a 30% increase in fuel efficiency and almost 30% decrease in CO2 emissions.

Edmund King, President of the AA adds: "Edmund King, President of the AA adds: "Today's vehicles are almost twice as safe as ten year old vehicles as they are more likely to have EuroNCAP 5-star crash protection, ABS, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and sophisticated air bag protection. Drivers will welcome ‘Darling's Deal for New Wheels'."