Canarian Weekly
17-05-2013, 11:10
SPAIN’S traffic authorities have delivered a shock announcement for motorists.
They intend to reduce the number of older cars on our roads over the next few years.
The Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) accepts that vehicles are being kept longer by drivers because of the recession affecting the country so badly. But, with this comes safety concerns.
As a result, it means that the number of new cars manufactured and registered in Spain is in free-fall, which is causing serious dents in sales throughout the motor industry.
By 2016, the authorities want to reduce dramatically the number of cars over the age of seven years on the roads throughout Spain – including the Canary Islands, among other regions – by launching tougher controls including a “repair history record” of all vehicles registered in Spain.
Few details have been revealed about its devastating plan, although the DGT maintains that around 50% of vehicles currently being driven around are aged 9½ years or over.
And even though many of them are deemed completely legal now – sailing through the ITV test annually – the authority intends to reduce the average age to a maximum of seven years by 2016 through increasingly stringent controls.
This will come as a dreadful shock to many owners, who keep their cars in roadworthy condition because they simply cannot afford to spend thousands on updating them – or because they are happy with them anyway.
At present, one in three cars sold in Spain is over 10 years old, which is a major concern for road safety.
In the first three months of this year, used-car sales have increased by 8.9%, which equates to 558,000 vehicles sold, compared with the same period in 2012.
That’s more than double the number of new vehicles sold.
Maria Segui, Director of the DGT, expressed her concern over the safety of ageing cars saying that age can “make the difference between life and death”.
By coincidence, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has pledged to invest one billion euros in Spain’s car industry over the coming weeks.
Despite ongoing economic woes and soaring unemployment, a total of 5bn euros has already been invested in the car industry in just over a year.
Rajoy made the announcement at a lunch for car company executives ahead of the Barcelona International Motor Show, which began last Saturday and finishes on Sunday.
The Prime Minister added that 12% of the country’s workforce was employed directly or indirectly in the auto sector, and that most of the jobs were highly skilled.
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/traffic-chiefs-put-brakes-motors/)
They intend to reduce the number of older cars on our roads over the next few years.
The Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) accepts that vehicles are being kept longer by drivers because of the recession affecting the country so badly. But, with this comes safety concerns.
As a result, it means that the number of new cars manufactured and registered in Spain is in free-fall, which is causing serious dents in sales throughout the motor industry.
By 2016, the authorities want to reduce dramatically the number of cars over the age of seven years on the roads throughout Spain – including the Canary Islands, among other regions – by launching tougher controls including a “repair history record” of all vehicles registered in Spain.
Few details have been revealed about its devastating plan, although the DGT maintains that around 50% of vehicles currently being driven around are aged 9½ years or over.
And even though many of them are deemed completely legal now – sailing through the ITV test annually – the authority intends to reduce the average age to a maximum of seven years by 2016 through increasingly stringent controls.
This will come as a dreadful shock to many owners, who keep their cars in roadworthy condition because they simply cannot afford to spend thousands on updating them – or because they are happy with them anyway.
At present, one in three cars sold in Spain is over 10 years old, which is a major concern for road safety.
In the first three months of this year, used-car sales have increased by 8.9%, which equates to 558,000 vehicles sold, compared with the same period in 2012.
That’s more than double the number of new vehicles sold.
Maria Segui, Director of the DGT, expressed her concern over the safety of ageing cars saying that age can “make the difference between life and death”.
By coincidence, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has pledged to invest one billion euros in Spain’s car industry over the coming weeks.
Despite ongoing economic woes and soaring unemployment, a total of 5bn euros has already been invested in the car industry in just over a year.
Rajoy made the announcement at a lunch for car company executives ahead of the Barcelona International Motor Show, which began last Saturday and finishes on Sunday.
The Prime Minister added that 12% of the country’s workforce was employed directly or indirectly in the auto sector, and that most of the jobs were highly skilled.
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/traffic-chiefs-put-brakes-motors/)