A recent Which? magazine article that
condemned
car manufacturers for raising the list price of
car scrappage scheme
vehicles has come under fire from
car company
Nissan .
Which? included a Nissan model, the
Micra, which it claimed had gone up in price by 11 per cent.
The
vehicle scrappage scheme allows
car owners to
scrap vehicles over 10 years old and receive 2000 pounds off a
new vehicle .
Nissan slammed the article, claiming that it is misleading and also
poorly researched. A spokeswoman for the company reportedly
commented: Micra prices were increased at the beginning of
April by 5.2 per cent as a response to the deepening recession, the
weakening pound, the cost of
borrowing and reduced access to
finance – basically the industry was, and still is, in
crisis. This was discussed openly with media at the time. The
details of the
scrappage scheme – including how it was to be
financed – were not announced, nor were they shared by
the Government, until April 22.
She reportedly continued: Therefore, to relate any Micra
price increases to scrappage is wholly inaccurate and
inappropriate. To compound the issue, Which? has not used
like-for-like comparisons in their report; a small amount of
research would have revealed that Micra Tekna has, since September
2008, added touch-screen
satellite navigation,
iPod connectivity, blue-tooth and intelligent key – more
than £1,200 of equipment.
