The spike in registrations of small, lower value cars caused by the scrappage scheme will have a limited, if any, impact on residual values.

Since the scrappage scheme was introduced on May 18, 35,000 orders have been taken for new cars. Of those, the majority have been city or supermini category cars.

But, according to industry valuation experts, the extra registrations of these type of vehicles are unlikely to distort the market.

Jason King, head of market intelligence at EurotaxGlass, said: “If you look at the profile of the people who are buying cars through scrappage there will not be much impact.

“These people kept their last car for around 10 years and we expect them to do the same with the new cars they are buying – this will keep them out of the market.

“The way the market is going is for smaller, more economical cars anyway. However, there may be issues if one manufacturer is very successful through the scrappage scheme and this leads to over-supply.”

And CAP’s current valuations manager, Tim Bearder, said: “Although one might expect there to be a downward impact on late plate values for small cars the current balance of supply and demand means dealers are reluctant to bid down on them.

“This year's market has seen a small downward drift in smaller car used values but it is currently impossible to separate out any impact of the scrappage scheme from the other factors which are causing this.”

According to research with car dealers by Fleet News’ sister title AM, in conjunction with the RMIF, the majority of cars being bought under the scheme (66.9%) have an engine size of between 1.0 and 1.3 litres, and 19.1% are between 1.3 and 1.6 litres. Nearly half (48.5%) have a list price of between £6,000 and £8,000, while just over a fifth (22.1%) cost between £8,000 and £10,000.

The big winners under the scrappage scheme so far have been Alfa Romeo, Hyundai, Chevrolet and Kia, with registrations in May up by 42%, 36%, 21% and 20% respectively.

However, the true impact of the scrappage scheme may not be felt for many months, once manufacturers have converted orders into registrations.