So how well, or badly, have the car industry’s main players performed over the past 15 years?
The car-manufacturing business has undoubtedly raised its game, survived and thrived, but brands must acknowledge that their inflation-busting retail price hikes are a huge mistake. The design, quality, safety, diversity and desirability of the product has been beyond expectations. As for car users: they’ve more than done their bit as they’ve bought and insured their vehicles before coughing up additional billions in taxes, fines and fees like never before.
The other big beasts in the car game are clueless politicians, shamelessly deriving higher profits – for starters, 20 per cent VAT – from the car industry than manufacturers or dealers. They’re cynically discriminating against and picking the pockets of easy-target, defenceless motorists. What happened to zero tolerance on bullying?
All those worthy sentiments about fairness, being kind, freedom of movement, opportunity, mobility and equality are flushed down the toilet if blokes and women, boys and girls happen to use cars to get to work, school, shops, church, charity events or holiday destinations. How dare they work hard, then pay what’s left of their taxed wages or pensions to purchase cars that bring 24/7 self-reliance to themselves and their loved ones while at the same time bringing the Government lovely-jubbly, money-for-nothing tax revenue. Apart from VAT, there’s fuel, insurance, parking and other punishing taxes; road, bridge and tunnel tolls; the congestion (even if there is none) charge; ‘ultra-low-emission’ swindles and countless other creative, state-sponsored charges, fees, fines, costs and legalised cons, schemes and scams mainly for profit-making purposes.
By driving their personal mobility machines on, through or over roads, tunnels or bridges they effectively own (because their car-related taxes have already paid for them several times over), motorists are propping up the UK economy. They’re refusing to burden it and the state’s heavily subsidised public transport ‘system’, which can barely cope with the passengers it currently has, never mind millions more if and when we’re bludgeoned/priced off the road and on to rail. At that point, not only does the economy collapse, but the railways also buckle. The country grinds to a halt.
By the time you read this, you’ll have just heard the new Chancellor’s Budget speech. I’m ready to stand corrected, but I’m predicting she’ll be anti-car/car user and pro-public transport.
Will they (Labour), like the two governments before it (Conservative and Con-Lib Coalition), never learn? Trains are for the few who demand to be steered by others. Cars are for the many who prefer to steer themselves.
Mike’s column was written before the Budget was announced…
