Of the 158,082 sales last month, 21.6% were attributable to the car scrappage scheme, which is due to end in February or when funds run out, whichever is sooner.

CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Paul Everitt, said: “The increase in new car registrations in November reflects the positive impact of the scrappage incentive scheme, customers avoiding the VAT increase in January and the very difficult conditions that we experienced a year ago.”

After Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said last week that the industry would have to cope with returning to normal market conditions, Everitt urged the Government to consider extending the scheme in its Pre-Budget report on Wednesday, noting that there was just an estimated £125m of funding remaining.

The November figures took new vehicle sales to more than 1.84m for the first 11 months of year, but this represents a drop of 8.8% on the same period last year. Full year estimates are for 1.95m sales versus 2.13m in 2008.

RAC motorist strategist Adrian Tink said: “We are still concerned about what will happen once the scheme ends and the discount bubble burst.” 

Edmund King, president of the AA noted of the new cars purchased through the scheme: “These cars are cleaner, greener and safer”, whilst making reference to a recent poll suggesting 13% of drivers would consider buying a new car if the scheme was extended.

UK manufacturing leader at Deloitte, David Raistrick said: “We may see interest rates increase next year. Furthermore, car manufacturers may find themselves needing to implement price rises due to the low value of sterling increasing the cost of imported cars and parts. The automotive sector must be prepared to deal with these challenges in order to ensure a long-lasting recovery.”

The EEF has recently issued a letter to the Chancellor Alistair Darling claiming the Car Scrappage Scheme had helped reduce the fall in UK car production while retaining skilled jobs. Director of policy, Steve Radley confirmed; “The success of the Car Scrappage Scheme has been clear for all to see by putting a floor under manufacturing recession and helping retain skilled employees.”

However, a caveat was also included – as the EEF stated it was uncertain consumers would continue with their demand for new cars if such scrappage incentives were to cease. It further added; “It is by no means certain that this positive trend will continue in the near future with consumer confidence still fragile and unemployment still rising. Failure to extend the (Car Scrappage) scheme before a stronger recovery is in place runs the risk of pulling the rug from under the sector, damaging supply chains and prospects for a better balanced economy in the upturn.”

As recently reported by the Car Scrappage Team, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has also called on the Government to extend the scrappage scheme. The SMMT was quoted last month as stating the £300m scheme fund was likely to run out by the end of October and has therefore called on the Government for an extension to February 2010. But a more startlingly estimation has been offered Deloitte, which claims the scrappage scheme fund could be all-but-gone within the next week.

The latest Car Scrappage Scheme Survey has revealed some intriguing statistics. 70% of those surveyed are eyeing deals offered by dealerships by looking to trade in their old motor. It could be a summer of activity in the showrooms.

Potential punters appear to be looking at deals amongst the lower market brands, such as the Ford Ka. And always one for a deal, our UK consumer is finding that the scrappage scheme discount of £2,000 is a larger percentage of the overall purchase price for an economical car compared to the higher market models, therefore offering better value.

Furthermore, punters may also be finding that car loans for smaller sums are easier to secure with lenders.

The Volkswagen storage facility in Wolfsburg.

A study by economists has claimed that Germany’s car scrappage scheme, whereby a €2,500 government grant is offered to anyone trading in a car 9 years or older for a new model, is wasteful because most claimants would have bought a new car anyway.

The study by the Halle economic research institute IWH, claims that three out of every four buyers of new cars who took the grant from the €5bn pot set aside by the German government, were intending to buy a new car anyway.

Two million subsidised car sales are expected to be generated by the scheme, with the IWH claiming One and a half million would have happened regardless.

A spokesperson for the Finance Ministry in Berlin however rejected the criticism, claiming: “This was the way it was intended to be.” The representative went on to add: “The idea is that somebody who needs a new car should buy it now and not wait until next year. We wanted to encourage profit-taking as a way of promoting immediate consumption.”

Hyundai is reporting that enquiries are up 400% at its dealerships since the scheme was announced, whilst Ford say that its car scrappage scheme section went live on its website, as many visits were received as to its most popular page within just a few days.

Similarly, Toyota are reporting ‘major increases in traffic’ to its website, Audi have noted significant interest in the scrappage scheme area of its website and Peugeot dealers are getting 60 to 80 more enquiries as well as a ‘massive increase’ in website traffic since the scheme was announced.

Nissan are seeing more visits to its dealerships since the Budget announcement although many of the visitors we trying to find the cheapest car possible. If this is the trend through the industry, it points towards the likelihood that stimulus will not be to the whole of the industry, but rather skewed towards the cheaper end of the market.

It is widely expected that May 18 is the date from which the scheme will commence, with an official announcement expected imminently.