According to
car finance news today, a spat has broken out between the
Society of
Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the
used car guide Parker’s. The argument concerns the
car scrappage scheme .
Parker’s reported that
car buyers were failing to save under the
scrappage scheme. They reportedly commented that they had:
found a number of examples from different manufacturers where
the buyer will end up paying more than the original list price by
the time their
finance agreement comes to an end. Manufacturers with
rates normally around 3.9 per cent and 5.9 per cent APR pushed
their rates up as high as 8.9 per cent APR when used with the
scrappage incentive.
The guide accused some
carmakers of deliberately hiking their APR rates, singling out
Renault,
Skoda and
Peugeot . Immediately, the SMMT came back with a rebuttal. They
reportedly commented: In some cases, where manufacturer
profit margins are low, they are not able to offer additional
incentives which may still be available on non-scrappage models and
this may be reflected in the
finance arrangement. The very nature of purchasing goods on
credit means that any consumer will ultimately pay a higher
price for that product.
