Business Profile
For a car buyer looking to make the most of the scrappage scheme, Clover Leaf Cars’ already competitive prices for attractive Honda models has made the dealership a popular choice among those trading in their old vehicles.
The scrappage scheme effectively wipes £2,000 from the list price of a new car – with £1,000 being given by the Government and the same amount from the manufacturer. Qualifying cars have to have been owned by the keeper for at least a year and only the named keeper can buy the new car.
The scheme is only a few weeks old, but Clover Leaf Honda, which has showrooms at New Greenham Park in Newbury, Ascot and Reading, has seen great demand with 25 cars being sold through the scheme in the first seven days.
Sales manager Steve Morrison explained: “People are definitely interested in the savings and for most people that we are talking to it is not the environment that they are concerned about, but the price. Take the Jazz for example. It has a list price of just £9,999. When you take off the £2,000 scrappage discount the Jazz 1.2s is suddenly very attractive.
“We do get some people come in who do have the environment in mind and they are interested in our new hybrid car. The Insight has both a petrol engine and electric motor and its CO2 emissions are in almost the lowest band. The road tax is only £15 per year. It is in the lowest company car tax band and achieves a fuel consumption of 60mpg.
“It is the biggest selling car in Japan and this in turn means that availability here in the UK is limited because of that success. It is proven technology and there is a demand for them.
“The scrappage scheme is always going to be good for the environment as well as the wallet though, even if someone is buying one of our four-wheel-drives like the CRV, it is going to be greener than the older car they are trading in, so everybody wins.
“Actually we have seen people actively trading down and swapping their larger 4x4 for our CRV. They can enjoy the same driving position and versatility of the vehicle they already had, but it has a more competitive price and is often going to be much more fuel efficient.
“The same is happening with used cars and while the scrappage scheme only applies if you buy a new car, our range of used cars are offered at very competitive prices and will offer better performance and value for money than the models typically traded in against them or that they replace.”
Honda funds it own credit facilities exclusively for those wanting to borrow in order to buy its cars so it was not invested in the sub-prime mortgage market.
Consequently, it continues to offer lucrative credit facilities, including zero per cent on a range of selected models.
Clover Leaf Cars
Tel: (01635) 556800
Fax: 0845 2806393
Web: www.clover-leaf.co.uk
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