Back in May this year, the UK government launched a scheme that would reward car buyers when they scrapped their old cars. Oddly enough it was called the ‘Car Scrappage Scheme’ and it gave car buyers 2000 towards a new car when they scrapped a car that’s more than 10 years old.

The cost of the scheme was 600 million. Out of the total pot required to fund the scheme, half was payed by the tax payer, the other half was payed for by the car manufacturers. Despite this being a large sum to invest in a scheme, it’s certainly proving successful for the market.

The total number of registered cars for July 2009 were released last week and it seems to have risen by 2.4% compared to the same month last year. Overall 157,149 new cars were registered last month, overall a 2.4% rise in sales from last July. Out of those 157,000 odd cars, around 33,000 of them were bought as part of the scrappage scheme. The last sales rise seen was back in April 2008, so although 2.4% is not a huge number, it’s still a number to be happy about.

Because this is such good news for the industry, many government MPs are calling for Lord Mandelson to extend the scheme further into 2010. Currently the cut off date for this scheme is February 2010, or whenever the 300 million pounds of tax payer money drys up. However, as it has proved so popular with over 144,000 cars registered with the scheme since it’s start back in May, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was continued.

Car manufacturers will hope that if the scheme is continued, the rise in car sales will continue as more people invest in the scheme.

Despite this being good news, there are some downsides to the scrappage scheme. The first would be the second hand market. As everyone is scrapping their old cars, many people are finding it hard to find a suitable second hand car. The other sector affected is the cheap car leasing market.

Due to the high number of new cars being registered, the leasing sector is loosing out because people are opting for a new car rather than a Nissan lease when they can just scrap their older car for savings off a new one. Luckily, this problem doesn’t so much effect the van contract hire sector because the scheme doesn’t benefit van scrappage as yet.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, Cars, leasing, scrappage scheme, vans

Thousands of jobs in the UK are under threat over the recent collapse of American car manufacturing giant General Motors (GM). The company were forced to finally file for bankruptcy protection in the US, causing uncertainty for all its workers about their future with the company. The European branch of GM, which includes Vauxhall in the UK as well as the German brand Opel, has already been sold off to Magna International, a Canadian car parts company.  But although this means that both the British and German brands will continue production, a fall in demand for car sales and car leasing deals could mean that Magna will be making significant job cuts.

The worry for Vauxhall is that Magna is a relatively unknown company in the UK, with ties to the Russian vans company run by oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Sberbank, a Russian bank. This has led to speculation that production at Vauxhall’s Luton plant, where they make Vivara vans, could be moved to Russia, leaving the Luton’s 1,400 workers without jobs. The German government also had a hand in making sure the takeover deal went smoothly, causing worries that the Opel factories and workers may be protected as a priority and that if cutbacks in production and staff were necessary, it would have to happen in the UK. However this is all speculation at this point as Magna have made no promises yet and have made it clear that they will do everything in their power to protect as many jobs as possible in all areas.

For Vauxhall’s 5,500 UK workers, all they can do is to remain hopeful that the company will recover quickly after the takeover by Magna, who obtained the company over other potential buyers including Italian car manufacturer Fiat. Car leasing and car sales will need to improve soon for the decision to keep factories open to be viable. In the meantime for buyers interested in purchasing a car from Vauxhall, car leasing could be a better option as it enables you to choose from a wider range of vehicles, and is less likely to leave you in a difficult position if the company suffers any further disaster in the future.

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Technorati Tags: car leasing, Cars, fiat car leasing, van contract hire, van leasing, Vauxhall, vauxhall car leasing

General Motors, one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, has filed for bankruptcy with the American government. For as long as cars have been around, General Motors (GM) has been one of the three largest producers of cars in America as well as one of the world’s biggest car companies. Now the car industry is on its knees, and of the three biggest car manufacturers in America two have already been forced to ask the government for protection from their creditors. But what does all this mean to us?

Well, for those of us in the UK, the answer is probably not a lot. If you own a car made by GM, you don’t need to worry about the possibility that you might not be able to get parts for it in the future, as the company is still in business and hasn’t ceased trading. With the financial protection of the US government, they predict the company will be reconstructed in as little as three months. Further to this, the European branch of GM, which is responsible for Vauxhall and the German brand Opel, has already been sold off to a Canadian company who have said they will do all they can to protect the 5,500 UK jobs at stake.

For consumers looking to purchase a new car in times like these, it could well be that leasing or contract hire could be a better option than buying outright, as it gives you more freedom of choice and wouldn’t leave you in the lurch later if the manufacturer did go out of business. Certainly if you are worried about buying a car by one of the main manufacturers tied to one of the companies that is at risk such as Vauxhall or Ford, car leasing could put your mind at ease.

Whether you’re looking for a handy little car about town or a fancy new BMW, car leasing gives you a wider choice of vehicles including those that may otherwise have been out of your price range for buying outright. Your agreement takes into account your projected mileage and wear and tear, so the value of the car will not decrease over time and when your agreement ends you get to swap the car for the new model of your choice. With the car industry in such a state of disaster, it could be the best way to make sure you’re not affected by any future surprises!

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Technorati Tags: BMW car leasing, car leasing, contract hire, ford car leasing, general motors, GM, van contract hire, van leasing

The US Energy Department have loaned Ford, Nissan and Tesla a total of $8 billion. This money is planned for developing new electric cars, which in turn will create new jobs in the car industry.

The money is designed to help increase the development of greener cars, aswell as increasing the amount of jobs in the industry.

The overall loan will be split up differently to each manufacturer. Ford has been given the majority of the loan, $5.9 billion. This money will be used to help them develop new technology for gasoline engines, aswell as developing new electric cars.

This money given to Ford has been very handy because of the extremely low interest rate of around 3.75%. Ford would have had to pay double figure interest rates if they had tried to optain this amount of money on the open market.

The second largest amount of the loan will be going to Nissan who are getting $1.6 billion. Nissan have said that the money will be spent on one of their car plants who are developing lithium ion batteries. These car batteries will be going into a new electric car being developed for 2012.

Tesla will only be receiving a small amount of the overall loan compared to Nissan and Ford. Tesla will only be receiveing a loan of $465 million. A lump of the money is going to be used to build a factory in California to develop their new Model S Sedan. The other part of the loan will be used to develop parts for other car manufacturers.

Now that these car manufacturers have been given this money, we should see some new electric cars come to the market in the next few years. Having the ability to choose an electric car when leasing would save you even more cash. I imagine a huge number of people with a Ford lease or Nissan lease would love to have an electric car as this would save them even more money.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, Ford, ford leasing, nissan, nissan leasing, tesla, US, USA

Thousands of workers at Honda’s Swindon factory have returned to work after the troubles of the car industry forced its closure four months ago. The 3,400 workers have agreed to taking a pay cut until 2010 but are glad to be back at work with their jobs secure after the uncertainty of the last four months.

The factory was forced to close while the company decided on the best way of dealing with the problems caused by the global recession and the effect the economic downturn has had on the number of car sales and contract hire agreements. The motoring industry has been hit hardest of all and many car manufacturing companies are struggling to make ends meet,  but Honda’s experience could serve as a good example to the other brands still hanging in the balance. Their decision to temporarily close the Swindon factory has allowed them time to make important decisions about the future of the business as well as perform long-planned maintenance work. During the four months downtime the production lines were stripped down and rebuilt, and the entire plant was redecorated, wherever possible using existing employees with the relevant specialist skills or training. 

But not everything is good news. 1,300 workers from the Swindon factory chose to opt for voluntary redundancy when the factory closed, many of whom still have not managed to secure alternative employment. And although the employees returning to work now know their jobs are secure, their pay has been cut by 3%, or 5% in management roles, for the duration of the next 10 months. The plant is only running at 50% of its normal capacity, with a predicted total production of 113,000 vehicles in 2009, less than half the original intended number of 228,000.

In short, it’s a small victory but the company is not out of the woods yet, Honda car leasing and sales figures will have to increase significantly over the next few months if they want to avoid any further disasters. The Swindon factory is due to start production of the new Honda Jazz model in September, which should increase sales and give a clearer picture of the long-term future of the Swindon factory. Not to mention as the economy begins to recover buyers will be taking advantage of low car prices as across the board from Honda to Mercedes, car leasing and purchase prices are cheaper than ever.

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Technorati Tags: car leasing, contract hire, Honda, honda car leasing, mercedes car leasing, van contract hire, van leasing

Ford are getting ready to increase the prices of their cars by 4% on June 30th. This is the third time since 2007 that they have rose their car prices. The first rise was in February by 4.7%, and then again in April by 3.75%.

Ford said that they know it may seem strange to raise prices particularly during a recession, however, to they also said that “there is no choice if we are to maintain a viable business”.

Ford said that the pound against the Euro had been stable for around 10 years at the end of 2007 at 1.43 euros, however, more recently the the pound had fallen to 1.16 euros.

Because the majority of Fords cars for the UK are made in Germany and Spain, they had no other option to raise prices. Before these prices rises occurred, Ford had to absorb the losses from the weak pound, however, they cannot continue doing this during a recession if they wish to be a stable business.

These price rises will not just be a problem during the recession, they will also have a negative effect on the car scrappage scheme which will seem less of a benefit when buying a new car. With the prices of Fords cars rising by around £600 to £750. The car scrappage scheme will be having less of an affect on the price now.

Although this is all bad news for new car buyers, people choosing car leasing over buying won’t see the price rises straight away. Even if you are not currently on a Ford lease, but you are looking, the leasing companies won’t pass on the price rises until they buy new vehicles, which, during the recession, won’t happen straight away. This news is pretty bad for new car buyers, however, it’s weakened slightly for leasing customers.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, car scrappage scheme, Ford, ford lease, ford leasing, recession, scrappage scheme

Ford has announced that it has seen growth in it’s market share in the US. The US manufacturer is the only major manufacturer who has not filed for bankruptcy in the US, they announced that they have sold 155,954 vehicles in the last month. The current figures show a 24% decrease in sales from the same month last year, however, the figures show a 20% rise in sales from last month.

The increase in sales that Ford have seen could be down to the other car manufacturers such as Chrysler and General Motors who have both recently files for bankruptcy.

GM released their current sales figures the day after they filed for bankruptcy. They said that they have sold 191,875 vehicles in May which is a 30% decrease from the same month last year, but an 11% rise on last months sales. The worst performance in sales come from Hummer, Saab, Saturn and Pontiac, all of which GM are planning on selling on.

As for Chrysler, they filed for bankruptcy on April 30th and announced that they saw 79,010 sales from May which is a 47% decrease in US sales from the same month in 2008. They explained that a large number of their monthly sales came from 789 dealers that have cut Chrysler prices because they plan to stop selling their cars next week.

Ford is currently in the process of changing their production strategy to try and take advantage of the bankruptcy situation. They plan on increasing their production by an extra 10,000 vehicles in the current quarter, plus an extra 42,000 vehicles in the next quarter.

All car manufacturers are seeing a decrease in sales due to the current credit crunch, but the drop in sales is not just down to public sales. Corporate sales have also been on the decrease, companies that offer Ford leasing aswell as a number of other makes such as Peugeot leasing are buying less cars because they are being hit by the credit crunch. A big problem is down to the public, when they plan to buy a car, they rarely consider the leasing options, which generally work out cheaper than buying your own car.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, chrysler, Ford, ford leasing, general motors, GM

While I was driving to work the other morning I got stuck in a traffic jam on the motor way, it was quite a lengthy one and I did begin to get slightly bored. After a while I glanced over to the other side of the carriageway, to my astonishment for at least 30 minutes every car that went pass was so nice. There I was in my heap of junk while every one else was driving tremendous cars. I mean how do they get them?

After thinking for a while I came to two conclusions, because there is literally no way that most people can afford to get brand new vehicles, especially in this economic downturn, so below are my two thoughts.

1) They purchase cars on finance which they really cant afford and then they struggle to make repayments. People go and get the best possible cars and then they cannot keep up with the monthly payments that they have committed themselves to for the next 10 years, so they end up trying to sell the vehicle and we all know that cars are always dropping in price.
2) In my opinion this is how a lot of people are getting their vehicles and it is the best possible way, something that could in fact overtake buying vehicles is car leasing. Car leasing lets you get a much nicer car than you could usually have, without paying for it all at once. You just pay a monthly fixed rate for a new gleaming car and you do not have to worry about all of the repair costs. When your contract has ended you just hand the car back and get a brand new one.

To be honest the second option sounds so interesting that I might just go and get myself a new car on a lease contract tomorrow. it certainly sounds very tempting

Look no further for great deals on van leasing and van contract hire

Technorati Tags: car leasing, contract hire, new cars

Just how far has the car industry come in recent years? From being a luxury way back in the 1930’s to the cheap affordable way you can buy them now using car contract hire it is amazing just how far they have come.

The knowledge of the games industry is the best way I can talk about the change in technology. I’m going to go back to the days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNES for short. I could cover the first ever racing game but seeing as I was only really around from the realease of the SNES it is best that I only cover the time after this. F1 Pole position was one of the first driving games I ever played, for it’s time of 1993 it was a brilliant game.

Jump ahead just four years see’s the release of F1 pole position 64 on the Nintendo 64. It is amazing to see the difference between the two games. The 2-D to 3-D jump that took place between these two games was huge and it shows. However the next major jump doesn’t come for the next generation of consoles as the only difference there is improved 3-D graphics but the new F1 game on the PS3 is so realistic looking, it’s almost a waste of time watching it on T.V.

Of course the transition did not just happen to the gaming industry, there have been many advancements in the technology of the car over the same period of time. Without a doubt the best invention to come to the industry of cars has to be the Hybrid car. When the world’s oil supply runs dry Hybrid cars will most certainly be one of the main solutions to solve the problem, at least in the car business. The newer Hybrid cars have a better system in that when you brake the car, more power gets put into the battery.

Some of the other technology in the car is fantastic such as the touchscreen’s and the never to be forgotten tomtom system.

The Hyrbid car is only going to increase in sales (after the recession that is) and will certainly be the car of the future, but for nowl, you need a car that is both decent and afforable. Spend a lot less money on a leased car? The Audi contract hire looks pretty good as well as being as little as £214 a month.

Technorati Tags: audi contract hire, car contract hire, car contracts, car leasing, Cars, computer games, Technology

In this day and age cars are a necessity in everyone’s life, if you are relying on public transport then you should expect being late to anywhere you go. People want to drive the best cars and they end up costing a fortune.

But is it truly worth purchasing a new car these days? Let us see the reason why I do not really like this.
1.)  New cars are not made to last in this day and age; the manufacturers are very clever and only build cars for a certain lifespan so a new one has to be purchased.
2.) Even if a car was built to last in this day and age people just travel so much and they would probably do 100k miles in 3 years or less.
3.) Service parts for a vehicle cost a fortune.

I think back to the time when I first passed my driving test, it was an overwhelming experience, my first car was a bit clamped out but it never caused me any problems. Nowadays I definatley like to purchase newer cars, but the annoying thing about them is that they are always breaking.

Most people decide to purchase their vehicles on finance so by the time they pay them off the car would be dead anyway and then they would have to go and buy a new one, the manufacturers are very clever.  So in my opinion car leasing is probably one of the best options you pay probably less than you would as a monthly rate for finance, then when your term is up you hand the car back and get a brand new one, plus avoiding all of the cost of repairs and break downs.

Great Mercedes car leasing or BMW car leasing.

Technorati Tags: bmw, car leasing, mercedes, new cars