Volkswagen Bolsters Incentives for Trading In Diesels

An earlier VW incentive program took 210,000 older diesel vehicles off German roads.

The VW sign of Germany's Volkswagen car company is displayed at the building of a company's retailer in Berlin.
The VW sign of Germany's Volkswagen car company is displayed at the building of a company's retailer in Berlin.
Markus Schreiber/AP

German automaker Volkswagen says it is offering more incentives to trade in older diesel models in an effort to improve air quality.

The company said Thursday it would offer trade-in incentives for people who want to replace old diesels that met formerly looser emissions standards, and additional premiums for people who want to offload more recent diesels in 14 German cities with high pollution levels.

The German auto industry is under pressure to address higher levels of pollution from diesels after Volkswagen's 2015 scandal over cheating on emissions tests. Diesels from several manufacturers were found to have much higher emissions in real driving than during testing. New test procedures reflecting everyday driving conditions came into effect Sept. 1.

An earlier Volkswagen incentive program took 210,000 older diesels off the roads.

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