See all Motoring NewsThe Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) have revealed figures that show consumers' buying choices are changing when it comes to purchasing their new car.
Under scrappage, the average CO2 saving per scrapped car to date is 74g/Km. Based on the 6,743 scrappage applications already processed, annual CO2 savings of nearly 10,000 tonnes are accruing on these vehicles alone.
Scrapping 10,000 cars this year will mean a saving of 14,000 tons of CO2 in just one year.
The lowest emission cars (categories A & B-scrappage scheme cars) represent 82% of all new cars, compared to just 55% last year.
SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan, said: "While scrappage has played its part in encouraging consumers to be environmentally focused, it has been clear for the last two years that the trend now is towards lower emission cars. Consumers are seeing both the environmental and economic benefits in buying a cleaner car.
"In the last couple of years, our emissions have been reducing but scrappage has reduced that even more. The higher fuel efficiency of lower emission cars will also reduce our fuel demand and reduce fuel transport costs, which will have clear long-term benefits for all economic sectors."