CAR INCENTIVES NEEDED TO BOOST 2010 SALES, DEALERS SAY

CAR INCENTIVES NEEDED TO BOOST 2010 SALES, DEALERS SAY

(ANSA) - Rome, October 30 - Extending current green 'cash-for-clunkers' incentives through next year will ensure that new car sales will stay above two million in 2010, the association of foreign car dealers UNRAE said on Friday.

''Without the incentives, sales next year will fall to between 1.7 and 1.8 million, the original forecast for 2009, instead of the over two million they have allowed for this year,'' UNRAE Director General Gianni Filipponi said.

The UNRAE chief said he disagreed with critics who claim the incentives will 'drug' the market because ''the state aid is necessary given the macro-economic situation we are going through. This situation has not changed significantly from when the government decided to grant them''.

The green initiatives, Filipponi observed, have also had a beneficial effect on the environment because ''in nine months we have brought down CO2 levels by 6%, the biggest drop in 20 years. This thanks to taking old, polluting cars off the roads''.

The incentives, which expire at the end of the year, include a cash bonus of 1,500 euros for the purchase of new cars, those with a Euro 4 or Euro 5 emissions rating, in exchange for trading in old ones with an emissions rating of Euro 2 or less, which will then be sent to the junk yard.

A bonus of 2,500 euros will be given for the trade-in of light commercial vehicles with high emission ratings - Euro 0, 1 and 2 - in exchange for new, less polluting vehicles.

A 1,500-euro bonus will be given for the acquisition of vehicles which run on electricity, hydrogen, methane or natural gas regardless of whether an older car is traded-in or junked.

A 500-euro bonus will be given to those who trade in their old Euro 0 and 1 motorbikes for those with a Euro 3 rating and with motors up to 400cc.