TWO BMW 7 Series and an Audi S8 have been among the cars scrapped as part of the Government scrappage scheme since it was launched in 2010.
Figures from Revenue show that Renault has been the brand to benefit most from the scrappage scheme from January 2010 until the end of March 2011, with more than 4,279 new cars registered by the brand. This was followed by Toyota with 3,257 new cars sold and Ford with 2,903 units.
The scheme was due to conclude at the end of 2010, but was extended during the last budget to the end of June this year. Toyota has been the leading brand in the 2011 phase, with 23.5 per cent of the scrappage market and 1,195 new cars sold as part of the initiative, ahead of Renault and Ford.
Renault’s Megane was the biggest selling individual model as part of the scheme, with 1,928 new Meganes being sold, followed by the Ford Fiesta with 1,765 and the Toyota Yaris with 1,288 units.
But small family runabouts were not the only vehicles purchased. Some 45 BMWs were sold under the scheme last year and another 12 up until the end of March of this year – the majority of which were made up of the new 520d which starts at €42,820.
Audi sold 65 new cars as part of the scrappage scheme in 2010 and a further 20 by the end of March this year. This compares with 14 Mercedes-Benz purchases in 2010 and just two so far in 2011.
In terms of vehicles that were “scrapped”, Ford Fiestas were the most popular trade-in.
Some 1,049 Fiestas were handed in to be replaced by new cars. This was followed by 835 Toyota Corollas, 834 Nissan Micras, 569 Fiat Puntos and 508 Nissan Almeras, according to figures for cars scrapped up until the end of February.
There were also some high-end models disposed of. This year has seen two BMW 7 Series cars traded-in as well as a BMW X5 SUV. 87 BMW 3 Series have also been scrapped since the scrappage scheme began.
There were also 57 Audi A4s scrapped in 2010 with a further six Audi A4s in 2011. Rather unusually, a high-powered Audi S8 was traded-in to be scrapped in 2010.
Four Jaguars also met the crusher in 2010 as well as a total of eight Lexus cars. Of the luxury brands being scrapped however, Mercedes-Benz had the largest share with 210 Mercedes-Benz traded-in as part of the scrappage scheme since it began.