Volkswagen will buy back new diesel cars if German cities ban them, it stated on Thursday, looking forward to reassure potential buyers and stem a jump in sales of diesel vehicles.
Europe’s biggest automaker also informed it is going to extend incentives for buyers of new diesel cars.
The moves come after a German court ruled earlier month that cities in the nation could ban the most polluting diesel vehicles from their streets.
Many German cities surpass European Union limits on atmospheric nitrogen oxide, noted to cause respiratory diseases.
Worries about bans have resulted in a jump in demand for diesel vehicles, which are also important to automakers’ attempts to meet new EU rules on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Where as diesel cars are heavily criticized for emitting nitrogen oxide, they spew out less CO2 compared to gasoline equivalents.
Diesel car sales jumped 19 percent in Germany earlier month.
At its core VW brand, Volkswagen stated its buyback offer applied to new diesels bought from April 1 and the end of 2018 and would kick in if the city in which the buyer resided or worked banned diesels under three years of the purchase.
It stated its dealerships would buy back diesel vehicles impacted by bans at their current value if their owners at the same time purchased a new vehicle that was not impacted by cities’ driving restrictions.
At Czech brand Skoda, the guarantee covers the cars bought between April 1 and the end of June, but will cover bans introduced under four years of the purchase date.
At Audi brand, the offer only covers leased vehicles.
Volkswagen also stated it was extending to the end of June incentives for customers dealing in older diesels for new ones.
