The Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA), Car Care Canada and representatives from the automotive aftermarket industry consider that the environmental initiatives in the latest Federal Budget are a step in the right direction. However, they do not address a large enough segment of the vehicle fleet in Canada.According to the AIA, the decision to spend $36 million in a program to retire older vehicles (12+ years old) sounds impressive, but if the example of an incentive of $1,000 per vehicle retired is used, that's only 36,000 cars off the road -- cars which likely would have been retired anyway. Consequently, the retirement of older vehicles does not represent a big savings in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nor does the $2,000 purchase incentive for high-efficiency vehicles combined with the $4,000 levy on low-efficiency vehicles, given that these represent only 5% of all vehicles being sold today. These measures do not factor in solutions for the other 16 million vehicles on the road. For the AIA, it's a first step in the right direction but it won't come close to solving the problem altogether. Indeed, all new vehicles still require regular maintenance to keep their emissions low.
A false step... in the right direction?