What's the news?
Volkswagen is not, it seems, going to take the current emissions scandal lying down. The Irish arm of the Volkswagen Group has announced a number of special offers for the 161 registration period, and it must be said they look pretty tempting.
Chief amongst those is a reduction in the interest rate on Volkswagen Bank's PCP offer if buying a higher specification car. For instance, buy a Volkswagen Golf in Trendline spec and you'll pay 5.9 per cent APR. Spec your Golf up to Comfortline and that rate drops to 3.9 per cent and goes down even further to just 1.9 per cent for Highline, GTI, GTD and R models. Volkswagen says that means certain specs of Golf can cost as little as €269 a month to finance.
You can also spec your Volkswagen up on the outside for less - the R-Line styling packs are now being offered at half price.
Volkswagen is also putting a number of equipment bundles on offer for an appropriate €161 each. On the Golf, you can have a Technology Pack, which includes cruise control and a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system, while on the Jetta you can have a Business Pack, which comes with Park Distance Control, media player connection and a rear-view camera on the Comfortline. The Passat can be specced with a Technology Pack, which comes with keyless entry, park assist and tinted rear windows on the Comfortline.
Volkswagen also claims that taking finance from the Volkswagen Bank offers significant savings compared to high street banks - savings of €2,500 on a Golf Highline and €3,300 on a Passat Highline are the claims.
Finally, there's a free servicing pack offered on all Volkswagen models ordered before December 24th, 2015. That will cover all your servicing costs, including parts, labour and such items as oil filters, pollen filters, lubricants and brake fluid changes for the first three years.