Scrappage team appointed for initiative

Work has begun on Birmingham’s e Clean Air Zone Vehicle Scrappage and Travel Scheme. Motorpoint, the UK’s largest independent car retailer, which has branches in the area was recently selected by Birmingham City Council to help deliver the £10m scheme.  

People who work in the zone and earn less than £30,000 per annum, will now be able to scrap their vehicle with Motorpoint. In exchange, they will receive £2,000 credit towards a compliant vehicle from Motorpoint or £2,000 in a ‘mobility’ credit to use on public transport via a Swift Card with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM).

The Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone goes live on June 1, 2021. From this date the owners of vehicles that do not meet the emission standards of the Clean Air Zone will be subject to a daily fee of £8 to enter the zone.  The Clean Air Zone is an area of Birmingham city centre inside the A4540 Middleway (but not the Middleway itself).

Kevin Cartwright, General Manager of Motorpoint Birmingham and Oldbury, said: “We’re delighted to see the Clean Air Zone Vehicle Scrappage and Travel Scheme go live and with it the opportunity to further reduce the levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions in the city. 

“Motorpoint has hundreds of low mileage, nearly new vehicles all under warranty available at its branches across the city – every one of which is Clean Air Zone compliant. Plus, with our Sameday Driveaway service, people can choose, test drive and buy, all in the space of a couple of hours. We would definitely recommend anyone thinking of taking advantage of the scheme to go online and start their car buying journey at motorpoint.co.uk or alternatively pop into their nearest Motorpoint branch.”

Cllr Waseem Zaffar, Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and the Environment, added: “Every year, up to 1,000 people in Birmingham are dying prematurely from conditions linked to air pollution including cancer, heart and lung disease.  This is an unacceptable situation.

Clean air should be a basic right, not a luxury and just because it is invisible it does not mean we should ignore it. The Clean Air Zone will help improve air quality within our city and the Vehicle Scrappage and Travel Credit Scheme helps tackle the source of the problem by removing the most polluting vehicles from our roads.”

Motorpoint currently has over 6,000 low mileage, nearly new cars and light commercial vehicles available from over 30 different manufacturers. Every vehicle from Motorpoint comes with the balance of manufacturer’s warranty backed by the Motorpoint Price Promise. This means Motorpoint will refund the difference to any customer within seven days of their order if they find the same car cheaper from a competitor. As a bonus, it will also give the customer £50 worth of Amazon vouchers to spend. 

Plus, as part of the company’s on-going COVID-19 safeguarding processes, all vehicle collections will be completed in specially designated areas to always guarantee social distancing while an online portal means the car buying experience is completely paperless with customers able to sign for their new car using their mobile phone. 

The full eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for the scheme are available at www.brumbreathes.co.uk.