German government welcomes automakers' moves on trade

The government welcomes German automakers' moves towards making concrete offers of discount trade-ins to owners of older, dirtier diesel vehicles, adding that these latest moves had been precise what Chancellor Angela Merkel had been expecting.

"Volkswagen said for example that it will be offering trade-in discounts from Nov. 1," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. "It's good that the manufacturers are now making more concrete offers. That's what the chancellor expected."