According to an SMMT spokesman, the rise from £38 to £50 will allow the Treasury to claw an extra £28.8m per year from dealers and their customers, based on annual new vehicle sales of 2.4m. He said that the levy, introduced at £25 per car in 1998, had increased by 100 per cent in nine years. According to the DVLA licensing authority, the rise is the first in three years, and comes after three public consultations from 2004. However, it is one of a series of generic, car-related tax rises, notably to road fund license levels, with certain model categories, notably big 4x4s, the subject of further big rises. According to the DVLA, it plans to run further consultations soon 'with industry representative groups' about 'longer-term fee structures.' These will begin in late Spring.