VW will offer incentives to trade in older diesels in Germany

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group will offer trade-in incentives and a bonus for scrapping older diesel vehicles in Germany in a bid to prevent driving bans in cities where pollution exceeds the European Union's clean air standards.

The automaker will offer an incentive for customers who agree to scrap diesel vehicles equipped with Euro 1 to Euro 4 engines and buy a newer model, the automaker said in a statement. The incentives will be worth between 1,500 euros and 8,000 euros, depending on the model, VW said.

In addition, VW owners who exchange their Euro 4 or Euro 5 models in the 14 cities classified by the federal government as the most heavily polluted can claim a premium of between 500 euro and 7,000 euros in addition to the residual value of their existing vehicle.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partners agreed earlier this month on plans to cut pollution from diesel vehicles by asking automakers to offer owners trade-in incentives and hardware fixes.

Reuters contributed to this report

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