Sunday, 16th November 2008
How much is that car in the window?
A number of dealerships selling new cars are refusing to say over the phone how much their vehicles cost under the new car registration tax scheme, two weeks after changes announced in the budget.
The Sunday Times phoned different agents to see how the prices of their cars will change once the new regulations are in place in January.
Several salesmen were coy about the new prices and even asked to meet to discuss "the best options". A number refused outright to give the prices over the phone.
The government announced a new registration tax and circulation tax, replacing the vehicle licence, in a bid to encourage the purchase of new, smaller and environmentally-friendly cars.
Yet analysis shows that the biggest cuts will apply to diesel-engine cars, despite a special particulate matter tax being imposed on them.
In some cases this means there will be little difference in price between petrol and diesel versions of the same model. On the other hand, eco-friendly hybrid cars will become more expensive across the board.
The government, however, has made it clear it will be tweaking the tax, in particular for diesel family cars.
Our analysis also reveals that cars within the same price bracket will be reducing their prices at different rates. Whereas a Ford KA will become 13.2 per cent cheaper, the price of a Daihatsu Sirion will be reduced by 7.8 per cent.
The same can be said for the cars in the 1.4 litre petrol bracket, where a Citroen C4 will be reduced by over €3,000 while the price of a Fiat Bravo will be trimmed by €1,050.
The car registration tax is worked out through a complex system taking into account the car's length and value, the combined CO2 emission level and, for diesel cars, its particulate matter emissions.
The prices of cars with engines with a capacity of less than 2.5 litres will all be reduced, those with the smallest engines by 44 per cent and those between two litre and 2.5 litre by five per cent.
Environmentalists have criticised the government for only penalising the cars over 2.5 litres. They say all cars above 1.6 litres should be discouraged.
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Comments
The emissions from the cars themselves is not the measure by which cars are judged to be the harmful for the environment.
In 2006 the car industry the car evaluated to cause the least damage was the BMW 330, and which caused the most enviromental harm?- placed in the number 2 slot was the hybrid Prius.
This survey accounted for the cost of producing the car as a unit and of the recyclable entities within the car. The batteries used in the prius are not recyclable, and are extremely energy inefficient to produce, the process causing excessive amounts of pollution.
The BMW 330, being mass produced and highly recyclable is an efficient car to produce. The actual useage of the vehicles contributes minor pollutuants relative to their fabrication.
Furthermore, the contradiction regarding the pollution issues - more than a thousand new cars a day are registered in India alone, but CO2 emissions, the increases, are primarily due to the huge increase in air travel. Pollutants are deposited where natures cleaners - trees and the sea - can't help.
I'm pretty sure that if the big majority of the population starts to buy small & efficient cars, the State will eventually impose higher taxes on them too - to keep the revenue.
What is it about you and all other environmentalists that cannot understand that engine size is not directly proportional to CO2 emissions? There are 1.3litre vehicles that emit over 250g/km in CO2 (Mazda rx8) and there are 1.8litre cars that emit less than 150g/km (Bmw 1 series). And secondly, how exactly is discouraging the purchase of "excessively powered cars" going to reduce pollution? Most people who buy high-performance cars only use them on a sporadic basis anyway.
As I said in the letter published today, the system must work in such a way that it charges drivers according to how much their cars pollute, in real terms, and not just on the basis of the CO2 rating of the car. As many have said time and time again: a garaged car is not harming the environment.
To make matters worse, as Ivan Camilleri said, small low-emission vehicles are still much more expensive than in other EU countries, even under the new regime. For example a Kia Picanto costs 7000 euro in the UK (a country which also taxes according to the polluter pays principle) whereas in Malta the very same car is going to cost 9000 euro.
The point is the new tax system will not do enough to discourage people from buying big and excessively powered cars.
Aren't we going toward the eco-friendly "green" route?. Riddle still have to be solved.....