2,000-plus check out the ‘green’ €2,000 car bonus

MORE than 2,000 people have already viewed special BMW and MINI websites to see if their old car could qualify for a special €2,000 ‘green bonus’.

With Mercedes also announcing an ‘old’ diesel deal, it remains to be seen if more mainstream brands will join the trend here.

It would be part of a perceived need by carmakers to be seen to play a bigger role in lowering the level of harmful NOx from diesel engines especially.

Ford in Ireland are not commenting even though the company in the UK has announced a scrappage deal on old cars there, while Volkswagen Ireland have said they were not aware of such a development for the Irish market as yet.

Under the BMW deal, owners of diesels of any make that only meet Euro 4 emissions standards or lower (from 2005/06) will be offered an ‘environment bonus’ of up to €2,000 when they trade in their vehicle and buy a new BMW or MINI.

The deal applies only where the replacement is either a new BMW i3 electric car, a plug-in hybrid, or a Euro 6-standard car that has CO2 emissions of 130g/km at most.

Mercedes also announced a €2,000 changeover bonus. It applies to owners of EU1 to EU4 diesels (1992/93-2005/06).

Buyers can trade in against a new diesel or plug-in hybrid.

Owners of EU1 to EU3 cars will receive “additional financial compensation for the disposal of their used vehicle” which has to be set against the purchase of a new car, Mercedes say.