'THE dark time of year is here again and encouraging used car buyers on to forecourts takes some doing. Everybody likes looking at cars when it's bright and sunny – not on dark dismal afternoons.

So far this year, the weather has been kind and car sales remained buoyant throughout September and October and this has helped the motor industry.

Many were worried about the number of vehicles that would be left unsold going into autumn and winter but this has proved not to be a major problem. In fact, there was a shortage of nice cars not that long ago and the balance between buyers and cars on the market has been fairly even.

But now we are entering winter proper, so what is in store for the next two months before the market kicks off again in January?

First of all, tatty cars will struggle most in the bad weather. The trade doesn't like buying work at the best of times, but at this time of year when there is very little chance of offloading undesirable cars, it won't want to know.

Well-presented cars, either from own compounds or at the auction, will find homes quickest while everything else will sit around in the elements getting tattier still. Then, when the spring weather starts, newer cars will look better value and leave the old ones just as undesirable.

Scrap car nightmare ahead

IT was interesting to hear Mitsubishi Motors' UK managing director Jim Tyrrell on the eve of the Motor Show, where he spoke about the End of Life Vehicle Directive. This, he believes, has bigger implications for manufacturers than even block exemption.

The main points are that all manufacturers will be responsible for the disposal of all vehicles registered after July 2002, and from 2007 manufacturers will be responsible for the disposal of all their vehicles, irrespective of age. In the case of Mitsubishi UK, this could mean as many as 160,000 vehicles – a £16 million liability.

Then there could be up to another 150,000 grey and parallel imports, for which Mitsubishi may also have to pay. This is a vast cost for a relatively small company to absorb, but imagine the implications for bigger volume players. It might be catastrophic for any distributors that have failed to provision for it.

There is some way to go before this matter is resolved and talks are still going on between all concerned parties. But, as it stands, it might seem unfair that car manufacturers are responsible for their products from cradle to grave while the same doesn't apply to makers of TVs, washing machines and so on while the public just dumps them – often literally by the side of the road also.

Tyrrell was told by the DTI that if £3 was levied per car on road tax, the whole problem would go away, but this could well be a vote loser. After all, the public thinks motor manufacturers are too wealthy anyway, so a few million to spend on recycling is neither here nor there.

What effect this will have on the used car market over the next few years is unclear, but as manufacturers make more and more new cars this will undoubtedly create more that are unwanted and will have to be scrapped earlier.

All this poses a serious dilemma for the manufacturers. Do they sell more new cars, thereby creating more future scrap cars, or do they produce fewer new and hope used ones will last longer, thus putting off the day of reckoning?'