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The majority of UK consumers are in favour of a UK scrappage scheme for cars.
Three-quarters (76 per cent) of consumers want a scrappage incentive scheme similar to those operating in France and Germany.
The proposed scheme could see drivers of cars over nine years old offered a £2,000 incentive towards a new or nearly new car in return for scrapping their existing one1.
The German scrappage scheme helped to boost sales in February by 21.5 per cent, the first year-on-year monthly rise since July 2008.
The survey, undertaken by MM-Eye, a market research company specialising in automotive research, found 61 per cent were likely to take up the offer.
Two thirds (66 per cent) agreed with the idea of taking older cars off the road and replacing them with newer ones because of the positive environmental impact.
The SMMT said an average new car emits 14.6% less CO2 than a nine year old model so the scrappage scheme would continue the trend in reducing car emissions.
The survey found that people likely to take up the offer would be buying cars at the smaller end of the market, with the lowest CO2 emissions.
Eight in 10 (88 per cent) of those likely to take up the offer said they’d spend up to £10,000 on a new car in addition to the £2,000 incentive.
SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: “The scrappage incentive scheme is a popular way for government to support the automotive industry and provides good value for money for the tax payer.
“The increased VAT revenue to government largely offsets the cost of the scheme, yet the positive impact it could have on building consumer confidence and boosting the new vehicle market are extremely valuable to the UK automotive sector and the 800,000 people that work within it.”