Scrappage Bill Introduced in US Congress
18 March 2009
In a move to take older vehicles off the road and spur new car sales, US Representative Betty Sutton (D-OH-13) introduced legislation today that will provide consumers a $3,000 to $5,000 incentive to buy more fuel-efficient cars, trucks or use mass transit.
Rep. Sutton’s Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act (H.R. 1550) gives consumer purchase incentives for turning in vehicles that are 8 years or older to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles or to obtain a transit voucher. In the legislation, new car purchases that qualify for this incentive must achieve a minimum of 27 mpg US (8.7 L/100km) on highways, while new trucks must achieve a minimum of 24 mpg (9.8 L/100km) for highway driving. The bill provides graduated incentives based on greater fuel efficiency.
The legislation also offers transit vouchers in exchange for older, high emission vehicles.
Representative Sutton is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
After implementation of a similar concept in Germany, sales of new vehicles there increased 21% in February 2009 year-on-year.
This is assuming the people buying the new cars can get the loan and afford the payments for 3-5 years. If they are driving an older car, this may not be the case.
Posted by: SJC | 19 March 2009 at 10:19 AM