Nissan offers more help to region’s motorists

Apr 24 2009 by Chris Robinson, The Journal

SUNDERLAND-BASED Nissan has offered more help to car owners.

The car giant said it was disappointed that the Government’s Scrappage Scheme would only affect models that are more than 10 years old.

But it has now launched it’s own £2,000 minimum trade-in for cars aged 8-10 years old for anyone buying one of their Sunderland-built models.

It comes following the budget announcement to replace polluting vehicles with cleaner, greener alternatives. The incentive is made up of a £1,000 discount off the price of any new Nissan, and a further £1,000 reduction from Nissan for owners of pre-1999 models.

Paul Willcox, managing director of Nissan UK, said: “We are disappointed with the Government’s decision only to include cars over 10 years old in the Scrappage Scheme – we were expecting the offer to be available to pre-2001 models.

“That’s why we’ve introduced a £2,000 minimum trade-in for cars aged 8-10 years old for anyone buying one of our British built models.

“With Micra, Note, Qashqai and Qashqai+2 all produced in Sunderland this should also be good news for all the staff at our plant and the British manufacturing industry as a whole.”

More than one in four produced in 2008 came out of Sunderland plant.

Trade-in vehicles eligible for the Scrappage Scheme must be 10 years old or older and must have been owned by their present keeper for a minimum of 12 months.

Vehicles must have a current MOT certificate.