Volkswagen launches car scrappage scheme offering diesel drivers up to £6,000 off new model

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal that broke in 2015 rocked the global car industry

A tougher emissions regime for newly launched cars came into force this week across the EU (Getty)

Germany’s Volkswagen has launched a scrappage scheme under which UK drivers of old diesel cars can trade in their old vehicles and get between £1,800 and £6,000 off a new model.

The offer stands for any make or model of diesel car first registered in the UK before December 2009, and marks another recovery effort from the company battered by a massive emissions scandal two years ago.

Volkswagen in 2015 admitted that it had fitted software to diesel models which manipulated emissions tests. It eventually said around 11 million of its vehicles were affected worldwide including almost 1.2 million in the UK.

The scandal rocked the global car industry, triggered a host of investigations at other manufacturers and spurred a major rethink of how big corporations can develop clean, efficient technology to fuel cars of the future.

A tougher emissions regime for newly launched cars came into force this week across the EU.

Volkswagen’s new scrappage scheme applies to its own brand vehicles, as well as the Audi, Seat and Skoda brands.

The group is also pumping a significant amount of money into developing new electric vehicles as consumers’ appetites for greener living swell. Other companies that have offered similar scrappage schemes include Ford, BMW and Toyota.

The scrappage scheme in the UK represents an extension of a scheme already in place in the company’s home market of Germany, where customers can benefit from a discount of up to €10,000 if they trade in their old diesel for a new car.