![[Previous]](/gifs/previous.gif)
![[Contents]](/gifs/up.gif)
Most of the vehicles are 16 years or older when they are scrapped. Rogaland County in south-western Norway tops the list in terms of the number and percentage of cars and vans scrapped. Of the 90,900 vehicles sent to scrap yards, 86,050 were cars and 4,850 were vans. This works out to respectively 5.2 and 2.7 per cent of the total fleet at the end of March. By comparison, 12,900 cars (0.8 per cent of the fleet) and 740 vans (0.4 per cent of the fleet) were scrapped by the end of first quarter 1995.
A record 90,900 passenger cars and vans were scrapped for cash in the first quarter of 1996 as part of Norway's auto scrapping programme to remove older vehicles from the road. This is the highest number ever registered, also compared to annual records, since the national vehicle buy-back programme took effect January 1st, 1977. The increase is attributed in part to the government's decision to raise the cash payment for scrapped vehicles from NOK 5,000 to NOK 6,000 this year.
Average age of cars still rising
Despite the increase in scrapping, the average age of cars in Norway increased slightly in the first quarter. Preliminary calculations indicate that not enough older cars were scrapped and new cars sold to bring down the average.