Carmaker Volkswagen and its subsidiaries said on Tuesday they would offer cash incentives to trade in old diesel cars, as Germany struggles to reduce harmful emissions following a cheating scandal. Following the diesel summit, VW, BMW, Daimler and Opel vowed to reduce emissions with free-of-charge software updates for newer vehicles and cash-for-clunkers schemes for those more than 10 years old. VW's Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat and commercial vehicles subsidiaries all presented their own versions of the scheme Tuesday, with Porsche's applying to all of Europe immediately. Car companies have been in the spotlight over high levels of harmful NOx emissions since Volkswagen admitted to cheating regulatory emissions tests on 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide in 2015. Media reports that carmakers secretly colluded on technical specifications - including exhaust treatment technology at the heart of the diesel scandal - have further blackened the industry's name.

Source: The Local August 08, 2017 13:07 UTC