Volkswagen offers exchange incentive all over Germany

The Volkswagen brand is expanding its exchange incentive for replacing older diesel vehicles to cover all of Germany from 24 January until 30 April 2019. When trading in a Euro 4 or Euro 5 vehicle from any manufacturer, the bonus is paid in addition to the used car value. Until now, the incentive was reserved for customers in cities identified as particularly polluted by the federal government in order to improve air quality there as quickly as possible. The exchange incentive for new vehicles ranges from 500 to 7,000 euros, depending on the model. Jürgen Stackmann, Board Member for Sales and Marketing, said, “With the exchange incentive, the Volkswagen brand is offering all owners of Euro 4 and Euro 5 diesel vehicles very attractive conditions for switching to efficient new cars or nearly new cars with the latest exhaust gas technology. This emphasises our ongoing commitment to improving air quality and to preventing driving bans in German cities.” The environmental incentive for scrapping Euro 1 to Euro 4 diesel vehicles will still be paid all over Germany until further notice.

Owners of Euro 4 and Euro 5 diesel cars from any manufacturer can benefit from the exchange incentive all over Germany until 30 April 2019. The incentive is paid in addition to the used car value and applies for new and nearly new cars of all fuel types. For nearly new cars, the incentive for the Golf, e-Golf¹, Golf Sportsvan, Golf Variant, Touran, Passat sedan and Passat Variant models is 75 per cent. For the remaining models, it is 50 per cent of the relevant exchange incentive for new cars.

Until further notice, the environmental incentive will still be paid throughout Germany whenever a Euro 1 to Euro 4 diesel vehicle from any manufacturer is scrapped and exchanged for a Volkswagen new or nearly new car. Essentially, the environmental incentive applies for diesel vehicles when it comes to new cars. Car owners in particularly polluted cities and neighbouring districts can benefit from the incentive for new cars of all fuel types. In terms of nearly new cars, there is generally a choice of any fuel type. The incentive for the Golf, e-Golf, Golf Sportsvan, Golf Variant, Touran, Passat sedan and Passat Variant models is 75 per cent. For theremaining models, it is 50 per cent of the relevant environmental incentivefor new cars.

Volkswagen’s Deutschland Garantie (“Germany Guarantee”), which has been available since 1 April 2018, will continue to be provided until 30 June 2019 at no extra charge whenever a new or nearly new car with a diesel engine is bought at a Volkswagen dealership. It applies for three years after purchase and offers the customer, who might be affected by any driving ban in their place of residence or work, the option of exchanging their vehicle.

Anybody who is interested can contact our participating Volkswagen partners in Germany by calling the free hotline on +49 (0)5361 83 89 99 60 or visit volkswagen.de for more information.

With its successful diesel exchange incentives, Volkswagen Group has been showing since August 2017 that rigorous fleet renewal is a fast and efficient way to improve air quality. So far, more than 240,000 old diesel vehicles Group-wide have been replaced with more modern and cleaner models. Together with software updates for diesel vehicles, this reduces annual nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions by more than 10,000 tonnes.

Independent studies (e.g. PTV Group, Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen) have shown that fleet renewal is the quickest effective lever for improving air quality: in 2017 alone, 1.1 million new low-emission Euro 6 diesel vehicles entered the German market and replaced old vehicles. It has been proven that Volkswagen Group’s Euro 6 diesel and petrol vehicles are amongst the cleanest cars in the market. If fleet renewal continues, every second diesel on the road is expected to be a Euro 6 vehicle in 2021.

In addition to the exchange incentives, Volkswagen Group will offer its customers in particularly polluted cities up to 3,000 euros for hardware upgrades should they be approved by the authorities in the future, beavailable and be demanded by customers.

¹⁾ e-Golf – Power consumption in kWh/100 km: 14.1 – 13.2 (combined); combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 0, efficiency rating: A+.

²⁾ e-up! – Power consumption in kWh/100 km: 11.7 (combined), combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 0, efficiency rating: A+.