Yahoo Finance Drivers face £17bn loss as value of 'dirty diesel' cars predicted to fall amid selling glut
Thousands of drivers are looking to dump their ‘dirty diesels’ as the vehicles are poised to plummet in value.
More than half of all inquiries on a leading car buying website were from diesel drivers reacting to a raft of damaging headlines.
The likely fall in value, combined with a glut of diesel cars on the second hand market, could wipe more than £17 billion off the net worth of diesel car owners.
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London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to introduce an ultra-low emissions zone and additional charges on high polluting vehicles from 2019.
Similar plans are being considered by leaders of other city councils, where diesel drivers could be charged more to park in centres – a so-called toxins tax.
The government has also hinted that it could introduce a diesel scrappage scheme to compensate drivers who bought into the whole ‘diesel is cleaner’ marketing line of nearly 20 years ago.
The blizzard of negative headlines about the future of diesel cars will likely see their value drop significantly.
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According to Motorway.co.uk, based on thousands of online valuations made in April, more than half (56%) of inquiries were from UK diesel car owners, even though only 47.7% of cars on UK roads are diesels.
One in five diesel owners is looking to sell their car over the next 12 months to avoid paying additional taxes.
The anticipated glut of diesel cars to hit the used car market, combined with falling buyer demand makes a significant price drop of between 10% and 15% likely within the next 12 months.
[graphiq id=”kg0MHeKCmF” title=”CO₂ Emissions per Capita in United Kingdom” width=”600″ height=”474″ url=”https://sw.graphiq.com/w/kg0MHeKCmF” link=”https://www.graphiq.com” link_text=”Visualization by Graphiq” frozen=”true”]
With around 17 million diesel cars on the road, and the average value of a used diesel car at around £7,000, a 15% drop in value would see more than £17 billion wiped off the combined net worth of current UK diesel car owners, the website claims.
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“The proposed UK-wide toxin tax, the early introduction of a London ultra-low emission zone and the probability that the government will implement a diesel scrappage scheme, has left diesel car owners questioning their choice of ownership,” said Alex Buttle, director of Motorway.co.uk.
“We have not seen a major fall in diesel car valuations on our website just yet, but the surge we have seen in diesel selling suggests the market will quickly become saturated. Coupled with falling demand for ‘dirty diesels’, this means a price drop is inevitable.”
He said similar diesel regulations in Germany has led to a 19% drop in the average price of diesel cars this year.
Diesel car ownership surged after then chancellor Gordon Brown announced in 1998 they would be taxed less than petrol vehicles.
From about one in seven motorists driving a diesel in 2001, that is now about one in two.
In 2015, there were about 11.9m diesel vehicles on UK roads – so a scrappage scheme could cost billions.
