Call to revisit scrappage scheme

The government is being urged to keep plans for a scrappage scheme on its agenda to help cut emissions from the light fleet and make it safer.

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) is disappointed the $568 million clean car upgrade has been canned by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in his bid to free up funding to relieve cost-of-living pressures and fix damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

The MTA has long campaigned for a scrappage system and applauded the government when the scheme’s details were announced last year.

It supports efforts to reduce pollution caused by land transport and while the original proposal wasn’t perfect, it was seen as a “positive step” in helping the transition towards a younger and greener fleet.

Brian Anderton, the MTA’s advocacy and stakeholder manager, says the clean car upgrade would have assisted lower and middleincome households switch to petrol hybrids, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and EVs.

The association realises there was a long way to go to finalise it – the plan was for an initial trial of 2,500 vehicles – but it hoped any problems would have been addressed during the pilot.

“We know many Kiwis are feeling the pinch and support efforts to address the cost-of-living crisis,” says Anderton. “But we urge the government to keep this as a priority in future policy planning.”

When the upgrade was first announced, the MTA felt it was too narrowly focused on EVs and its scope needed to be broader, “allowing anyone to participate and with lower incentives”

It also believes a scrappage scheme should address the fleet’s age and safety in addition to tackling emissions.

The clean car upgrade was