What's the news?
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is introducing its take on the latest trend of trade-in bonus schemes for older vehicles. The scheme is part of the Volkswagen Group's Eco Grant programme for people trading in vehicles that are Euro 4 emissions compliant or older. Under the Eco Grant, anyone buying a new Caddy will receive a €2,000 (including VAT) scrappage allowance. For the larger Volkswagen Transporter and Crafter models, the contribution increases to €4,000 including VAT. The only vehicles excluded from the offer are the Volkswagen Amarok V6 and California camper van.
The latest Eco Grant offer is also available with 0 per cent HP finance and 1.9 per cent PCP finance, both of which are provided by Volkswagen Bank. Year-to-date, the bank has lent more than €30 million.
Commenting on the company's performance so far this year, Alan Bateson, Managing Director, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: "We have had a good year so far in 2017 with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles being the only brand within the Top 3 in Ireland to have gained market share. This is a great achievement for us and something we aim to continue into 2018. The launch of the new ECO Grant offer will take old diesel vehicles off the road for good, while offering customers up to €4,000 in savings. We are expecting a further increase in business levels for the remainder of 2017 and into 2018. Being the only vehicle brand in Ireland to allow customers to combine the scrappage savings with the 0% HP finance option, we have set a new benchmark that offers customers full transparency on the offer."
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has committed to taking every vehicle traded in off the road. All are destroyed by a certified ELV Treatment Centre to ensure the appropriate recycling of all components.
Anything else?
In a somewhat unusual move for a van company, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has said that it will introduce petrol variants of its Caddy van with prices starting at €13,995 including VAT and the Eco Grant, which is worth €1,000 on this model. Usually, the price for the 85hp TFSI Caddy will be €14,995. By its own admission, it expects to sell only small numbers of this van, citing it as an experiment to test the waters. Owners won't be able to reclaim VAT on fuel as this currently only applies to diesel, but can reclaim VAT on the vehicle. It anticipates that a petrol Caddy may appeal to certain businesses that are almost exclusively town-based, where the diesel particulate systems don't get the opportunity to regenerate correctly.