Missed the word friendly out of the last sentence!

Of course, any incentive for the consumer is often swallowed up by the retailer (like the VAT cut in Britain) but there is the vexed question of whether replacing an old car with a new one (even if it does use less fuel) is actually of any benefit to the environment.

The new car will tend, because it is new, to be driven more than the banger it replaces. The additional energy and carbon in the new car will not be recovered by breaking or scrapping the banger. Of course some people will be planning to replace a ten year old car with a new one (we will be, next year, when my other half gets her lump sum on retirement) but I imagine we are in a very small minority.

I wonder whether this 1000 euro bounty will extend to Brits bringing a RHD car to Calais to trade for the bright shiny new environmentally version?