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UK Vehicle Pool Drops for the First Time

The global recession has had a serious impact on the UK’s everyday automotive landscape, as the country’s car park has dropped for the first time in 64 years, breaking the consecutive annual growth that started after the Second World War, as just-auto reports.

A report released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trader indicates that this fall is a premiere for non-war periods, as it is the first situation of this kind since 1904, when the statistics were initiated.

The rate of car park growth has seen a slowdown in the last few years, a trend which has now been accelerated, leading to a negative figure. The 2009 statistics show that there are 31,035,791 cars on Britain’s roads, a figure that can be translated into a 0.7 percent decrease compared to the one posted in 2008. The main factor that led to this unprecedented situation is the global financial crisis.

The recession is the most obvious factor impacting on the number of cars on the road,” SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.

However, the same report shows that the phenomenon also has a positive consequence: the reduction of the average CO2 emissions in the country.

The Scrappage Incentive Scheme has also removed a large number of older and more polluting vehicles. Alongside these economic factors, tough enforcement has helped remove unlicenced vehicles from UK roads.

The UK automotive market is currently going through a period of changes, as most automakers are coming up with special offers in order to compensate for the ending of the scrappage scheme.
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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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