Motorists with old, higher-emission, less fuel-efficient vehicles will be eligible for a $2,000 Cleaner Car Rebate when they purchase a new, lower-emission, fuel-efficient vehicle, under a Gillard Labor Government.What they don't say:
This will encourage people to get their old polluting cars off the road and help the environment for the whole community.
It is anticipated that the measure will see close to 200,000 pre-1995 vehicles taken off the road over four years from 1 January 2011 to the end of 2014, ...
...
Under this measure, households that trade-in a car manufactured before 1 January 1995 for scrappage will be eligible for a $2,000 rebate ...
"Caveat emptor" - buyer beware.
Of the best known car brands, the list below shows those current models that have the required green rating of 6 or more:
Ford: - Fiesta, Focus (not XR5 Turbo)
Holden: - Cruze, Barina; Diesel variants of Cruze, Captiva, Epica, Colorado
Mazda: - Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda 6, Mazda CX7 (Diesel)
Toyota: - Prius, Yaris, Corolla, Camry
Subaru: - Impreza; Liberty 2.5i, Outback 2.5i, Forrester (Diesel); Outback (Diesel)
So, no Ford Falcon or variants; no Holden Commodore or variants, and the choice for families is rather limited.
For the full list, see: http://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au/GVGPublicUI/Home.aspx
Like all such things, this policy is dressed to sound appealing, especially if you don't do your homework. It is like most parties' election policies. It is as the Minister said, designed to replace older, inefficient cars. He just
didn't include the bit 'but not with new cars that are still less economical'. Perhaps we will see 4-cylinder diesel variants of the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore sooner than we think.
John
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