Still, if you're a typical UK motorist, you probably don't feel much like buying one at the moment. Is all that about to change?

On the face of it, the Government's latest scrappage plan to get new car sales flowing again might make all the difference.

The vehicle scrappage scheme wasn't our esteemed Chancellor's idea. Similar initiatives have been running in most other European countries, notably Germany, almost since the recession hit. They've been successful too, prompting calls for the UK to do something similar. Now it has.

In his 2009 budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced a 'cash for scrap' scheme, applying to any vehicle ten years old or older.

It means that anyone trading in a car or light van meeting the requirements will be offered £2,000 in exchange, £1,000 from the Government in the form of a voucher redeemable only against new car purchase, plus another £1,000 contributed by the manufacturer in the form of a discount against new car purchase.

At first glance, it sounds like a no-brainer for anyone with a barely road-worthy banger clogging up their driveway, but there are some catches.

The trade-in car must have been registered in the UK before July 31st 1999, it must have a current MOT certificate and it must have been owned by the person trading it in for at least twelve months.

There are also limits on how many ten-year old cars will be scrapped under the scheme. That's because the Government has put aside £300million of public money as funding, and in theory, once that's gone, it's gone.

They've put an end date for the scheme as being March 2010, but they've also said it will continue until the allocated budget is used up. In any case, if successful, expect this whole thing to be renewed, so this is probably something we're likely to see around for some time.

In theory, each manufacturer must decide if it wants to opt into the scheme but in reality, virtually all will given the success this initiative has had in markets like Germany.

Hyundai, for example, reports that German sales of their i10 city car leapt 662per cent in the first quarter of the year after the scheme was introduced.

Sales of small, relatively cheap cars like this will benefit most from the scrappage initiative: people whose funds have limited them to the point where they're in the position of having a ten year old car on their driveway are hardly going to be in a place to buy a Mercedes after all.

Reaction to the scheme's introduction has been mixed. Sceptics point out that there aren't many people with ten year old cars on their driveways, and those that have are unlikely to be in a financial position to buy a new car if it costs, say, £10,000 or more.

Even with the £2,000 scrappage incentive, they'd still need to part with at least £8,000 of their own money, or get the whole thing through finance.

It's worth mentioning that the £1,000 manufacturer contribution to the scrappage payment isn't in addition to existing offers, so those of a 'glass-half-empty' disposition will point out that it'll inevitably get swallowed up in discounts the dealer would have given anyway.

Many manufacturers were hoping that the Chancellor would extend the scheme to include cars no later than eight years of age (models pre-2001 in other words), giving them access to many more potential buyers.

Probably. The citycars and supermini models that will most benefit from the scrappage initiative are mostly cars already in high demand.

Customers using the scrappage scheme and put off by waiting lists on these models might well choose to forgo the scheme dividend and buy an affordably priced late low mileage vehicle instead if the deal is good enough.

The vehicle scrappage scheme is clearly more of a measure to help car manufacturers and dealers out of a difficult spot than a means of saving the planet or rewarding the public with discounts on new cars.

It can still be a win, win situation for everybody though and the early signs are good. In a faltering economy, any idea's worth trying once. When the government's scrappage scheme budget runs out, this could be one that's worth trying twice.