4 ms·

> However, buying a new car and junking the old one has to be less energy efficient than owning an old car and trying to use it less while utilizing public tran

> However, buying a new car and junking the old one has to be less energy efficient than owning an old car and trying to use it less while utilizing public transport. I don't know about Norway specifically, but in Western Europe in general (Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland etc.) old cars are sold to less well-off EU countries, where they're still in operation for (typically) many more years. So, the Western consumer changing cars every 5 years isn't actually affecting the environment, and is actually helping out folks in poorer economies.

kagamine 10y ago
That's something I would really have to see hard facts on before I could believe it.
- taway_1212 10y ago
  It should be enough to compare the number of yearly cars bought vs salvaged in say Germany (the difference should be the export, presumably to poorer economies). Unfortunately, I don't speak German (or French, Dutch etc.), but here are the Polish buy-side stats: This article says that the number of USED cars imported to Poland in 2015 was around 1 million: http://www.samar.pl/__/3/3.a/91648/3.sc/11/Ponad-milion-aut-z-importu.html?locale=pl_PL http://www.samar.pl/__/3/3.a/91648/3.sc/11/Ponad-milion-aut-... While this article says the number of NEW cars sold in Poland in 2015 was around 400k: http://motofocus.pl/informacje/wiadomosci-rynkowe/14747/sprzedaz-nowych-samochodow-w-polsce-w-2015-r-rekordowy-grudzien http://motofocus.pl/informacje/wiadomosci-rynkowe/14747/sprz... Which means that roughly 70% cars in Poland are used ones coming from (mostly) Western Europe. You could also come at it from another angle. Consider that a 5-10 year old car can still easily be worth 20-50% of its initial value. Who in their right mind would scrap it, when you can sell on the second-hand market? You don't see these cars on streets of Zurich or Paris, but come to most Polish cities and you'll be surrounded by them (a lot of them still have various stickers in German on them, as people don't bother to peel them off).

kagamine 10y ago

That's something I would really have to see hard facts on before I could believe it.

taway_1212 10y ago
It should be enough to compare the number of yearly cars bought vs salvaged in say Germany (the difference should be the export, presumably to poorer economies). Unfortunately, I don't speak German (or French, Dutch etc.), but here are the Polish buy-side stats: This article says that the number of USED cars imported to Poland in 2015 was around 1 million: http://www.samar.pl/__/3/3.a/91648/3.sc/11/Ponad-milion-aut-z-importu.html?locale=pl_PL http://www.samar.pl/__/3/3.a/91648/3.sc/11/Ponad-milion-aut-... While this article says the number of NEW cars sold in Poland in 2015 was around 400k: http://motofocus.pl/informacje/wiadomosci-rynkowe/14747/sprzedaz-nowych-samochodow-w-polsce-w-2015-r-rekordowy-grudzien http://motofocus.pl/informacje/wiadomosci-rynkowe/14747/sprz... Which means that roughly 70% cars in Poland are used ones coming from (mostly) Western Europe. You could also come at it from another angle. Consider that a 5-10 year old car can still easily be worth 20-50% of its initial value. Who in their right mind would scrap it, when you can sell on the second-hand market? You don't see these cars on streets of Zurich or Paris, but come to most Polish cities and you'll be surrounded by them (a lot of them still have various stickers in German on them, as people don't bother to peel them off).