FILE PHOTO: A fuel tank cap of a diesel car is pictured in Berlin, Germany, October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - 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 precisely 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.”