Volkswagen will continue to encourage people to swap their older diesel cars for new low-emission vehicles with the extension of its scrappage scheme to April 2, 2018.

The German brand claims to have taken almost 5,000 pre-2010 diesel vehicles off the roads since the scheme offering customer discounts – including government grants – of up to £8,500 was launched in the UK in September.

Commenting on the extension of the scheme, Alison Jones, director of Volkswagen UK, said: “We have already seen thousands of older cars taken off the road as UK drivers step into one of our new, lower emission, Volkswagens.

“All new Volkswagen petrol and diesel cars meet the latest Euro 6 emissions standards so whether it’s our latest Euro 6 cars, or our class-leading range of plug-in hybrid or full electric models, we have something to make the continued Scrappage Upgrade offer irresistable.“

To qualify for the scrappage scheme, customers must have owned their pre-2010 diesel trade-in vehicle for at least six months.

Among the discounts available are: up! (£1,800); Polo (£2,000); Golf Hatch (£4,000); Tiguan (£4,000); and Passat Saloon (£5,000).

Volkswagen’s EVs qualify for even greater savings as they benefit from the governments ULEV grant.

In total, Passat GTE customers stand to save £8,500, e-up! hatchback customers £7,800 and e-Golf customers £8,500.