Are falling car sales bad for the environment?

Car sales were down 6% in 2017 and it's easy to think that may be good for the environment. The overall picture however may be more complex than that.

Whilst sales of new diesel have fallen by a fifth and alternatively fuelled vehicles are up by over a third, the latter still form only a tiny part of all sales in the UK and Carbon Dioxide emissions have risen by 0.8%.

Consumers are right to be concerned by the health impacts of diesel vehicles: despite reductions in emissions most new diesel cars still fail to meet emission targets in real world driving conditions. Particulates and nitrogen dioxide has a serious impact on health. These new but failing diesels will face increased car tax from April. One might ask why they are even allowed to be driven on the road.

Another concern is that consumers are buying second hand, often more polluting vehicles instead of lower emission new ones.

Is it time for a diesel scrappage scheme, providing the dirty diesel is traded in for an alternatively fuelled vehicle?