Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 21:47:49 +0100
Reply-To: Dave Sovegjarto <davesov@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Sovegjarto <davesov@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Germans To Pay People To Crush Vanagons
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
They introduced this in Ireland a few years ago to get all the old heaps off the road. They give you £2000 Irish for any vehicle as long as it's road legal. (current road tax and car test certificate.)
When they introduced this they sold the most cars they ever had in one year, the next year they repossessed the most cars ever.
Dave Sov
91' Syncro DoKa
----- Original Message -----
From: Derek Drew
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 9:05 PM
Subject: Germans To Pay People To Crush Vanagons
September 27, 2001
Volkswagen Asks German Govt. Aid
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The head of Volkswagen (news/quote). Europe's biggest carmaker, called Thursday for government help to stimulate new car sales in the wake of terrorist attacks on the United States, although the company said it's too early to assess the full impact on business.
Chairman Ferdinand Piech said in a statement he would expect ``to see clear political support'' from the government in helping auto manufacturers make it through what is likely to be a tough time.
Volkswagen braced for a potential drop in the market this week, idling plants in the German cities of Wolfsburg and Emden as a preventive measure to avoid possible inventory buildups. These plants make some of VW's most important models, including the Golf, Polo and Passat.
Auto analysts say new car sales and showroom traffic in Europe have slowed in the wake of the attacks, as they did in the United States. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, Europeans were expected to buy 14.3 million cars this year, down from 14.8 million last year; now, analysts say sales could go as low as 14 million.
Piech proposed a program where the government would pay people to scrap their old cars. He said such a plan would not only increase demand for new vehicles, but help the environment as well.
The government could recoup some money in taxes on the new car purchases, he said, but provided no further details.
German luxury automaker BMW said Thursday the attacks were not anticipated to affect its business. BMW gets roughly half its profit from selling its luxury cars in the United States and Great Britain.
``We don't anticipate any drastic economic consequences for the BMW group, based on available data,'' said Michael Rebstock, a company spokesman.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
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The proposal above was met by immediate acceptance from the German government, and as a result all 16" syncros were immedaitely rounded up and destroyed. All T3 Westfalias are scheduled to be destroyed next week, and all modified T3 VW vans with other than stock motors the week thereafter. However, an exemption was granted for any vehicle purchased by FLO and sent to America for resale. :-) -- Derek
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