Booming Kia’s scrap surprises

12th June 2009

Would you swap a Porsche for a Picanto, or a Range Rover for a Rio? That’s exactly what’s happening across the country, according to Kia, as buyers ditch prestige marques in exchange for its budget offerings.

Among the 6,820 cars the maker has already scrapped under the Government’s cash-for-bangers scheme, there were two Porsches: a 924 traded in against a Picanto city car, and a 944 part-exchanged for a Pro_cee’d hatchback. Dealers have also take in 53 Mercedes.

Other surprise trade-ins have included a 1967 Bond Equipe and 34 Land Rovers – one owner in Coventry even arrived in a Range Rover Vogue and left in a Picanto. However, Kia reports one dealer in Ewell, Surrey, drew the line at scrapping a 1967 Singer Vogue saloon, promising instead to help the owner sell it privately.

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