Ford offers major cash incentive to trade in '˜dirtiest' cars

The car firm’s UK boss said thousands of the dirtiest vehicles could be taken off the road under the new scrappage scheme announced on Tuesday.

Available to new car buyers who trade in any car or van registered before December 31 2009, the scheme will run until the end of the year.

The vehicles will then be taken off the road and scrapped.

Incentives are available on a variety of models, including £2,000 for a new Fiesta and £7,000 for a Transit van.

The move comes amid pressure from governments to reduce air pollution and end the sale of the most polluting types of diesel engines.

Car manufacturers are also rushing to adapt to new technology, such as electric cars, in part to address air quality concerns.

Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said: “Ford shares society’s concerns over air quality.

“Removing generations of the most polluting vehicles will have the most immediate positive effect on air quality, and this Ford scrappage scheme aims to do just that.

“We don’t believe incentivising sales of new cars goes far enough and we will ensure that all trade-in vehicles are scrapped.” Barratt added.

“Acting together we can take hundreds of thousands of the dirtiest cars off our roads and out of our cities.”

Replacing old petrol and diesel cars alone could save 15 million tons of CO2 annually, the company said.