Over 300 thousand car wrecks dismanteld

In 2002 some 482 thousand motor vehicles were taken off the road. 313 thousand were dismantled, 169 thousand were exported.

Dismantling or export

Two thirds of all these cars are dismantled, while a third id exported. The opposite applies to commercial motor vehicles: one third is dismantled and two thirds are exported.

Out of the 313 thousand cars supplied for dismantling some 94 percent consisted of cars and 6 percent of commercial vehicles. In terms of weight this comes down to 89 versus 11 percent.

Discarded motor vehicles

Cars last 14 years

Huge numbers of cars and commercial vehicles are written off once they are eleven to twelve years old. Cars last an average of 13.8 years before they are dismantled. This is 13.4 years for commercial vehicles.

Car wrecks by vintage

Diesel and LPG cars discarded faster

Cars powered by diesel or LPG usually go to the scrap yard earlier than petrol-powered cars. People drive far more kilometres a year in the diesel and LPG powered cars, so they are written off faster.

One quarter of petrol powered cars go to the scrap yard within a decade, as do a third of the diesel or LPG powered cars. Ten percent of the commercial vehicles that run on petrol are dismantled within a decade, while 33 percent of the diesel-powered cars are.

René Jolly