Successful car dealership Lookers today confirmed that the car scrappage scheme has helped them to rally used car sales by boosting demand. Lookers reported an improvement in profitability, despite a 34% drop in pre-tax profits.

The company, who are based in Manchester, are well known in the car sales and motor finance industries. They have taken advantage of the scrapping scheme initiated by the government to try and increase new car sales.

The Chief Executive, Ken Surgenor, reportedly commented: 'We are pleased with this strong trading performance for the first half of the year with profit before tax increasing by 13.5% at £17.6m, which has been delivered in a very difficult market.'

Meanwhile, the chairman of Lookers, Phil White, reportedly said: 'Since the end of the half year, Lookers has continued to outperform the new car market and trading across the motor division is ahead of both budget and prior year.'