Volkswagen has been working tirelessly to repair its damaged image following the Dieselgate scandal. The majority of VW's plans to move on from diesel is to introduce a new line of affordable electric models. Still, there is the question of what to do with all of the existing diesel models out there.
In the US, VW has issued fixes for several diesel engines and has agreed to buy back hundreds of thousands of old TDI models. In fact, VW has bought back so many diesel cars, it has resorted to parking them in enormous lots around is deserted locations.
Now, VW will offer trade-in incentives and bonuses for scrapping diesel models in Germany. Diesel has always been more popular in Europe than in the US, so this new scrappage scheme will likely be massive. Europe is also on the verge of introducing bans on gasoline and diesel vehicles in an effort to clear up pollution, so VW hopes that by scrapping old diesel models, it will help ease the need for these bans in European cities.
The scrappage scheme will include all Euro-1 to Euro-4 diesel vehicles and give customers the opportunity to buy a newer model. VW will offer values of €1,500 to €8,000 depending on which model is traded in.
In addition, non-VW owners with a Euro-4 or Euro-5 diesel car in one of 14 heavily polluted European cities will qualify for an exchange premium. In addition to the car's residual value, these owners will be able to claim an additional €500 to €7,000 depending on the model.
This seems like a great way to get people to trade in their old diesel models. Much like Cash for Clunkers in the US, this scrappage scheme should help get more modern vehicles on the road and ease pollution in an area that could really use it.