BMW has launched a new scrappage-style scheme that offers owners of older diesel cars an extra £2,000 off any new BMW or Mini – provided the new car emits 130g/km CO2 or less.

The BMW ‘Lower Emissions Allowance’ incentive is targeting owners of diesels with Euro 4 emissions compliance or less: in other words, most cars built before 1 September 2009 (BMW and Mini car dealers will help determine whether your vehicle is eligible or not).

More on MR: 

• New petrol and diesel cars to be banned in 2040
• BMW ‘categorically rejects accusations’ of diesel emissions cheat
• Classic car fans furious as Vauxhall brings back scrappage scheme

The £2,000 allowance is on top of any other trade-in prices, dealer offers, discounts or government incentives, meaning owners of older cars could potentially get quite a tasty incentive to swap into a modern Euro 6 model.

BMW is not forcing people into a petrol car or plug-in hybrid, either: all new models are eligible for the saving, provided they emit 130g/km CO2 or less. “For those who the alternative drivetrains do not suit their lifestyle we still offer allowance qualifying Euro-6 compliant petrol and diesel engine cars that are cleaner than ever,” said BMW Group UK CEO Graeme Grieve.

80 percent of new BMWs emit 130g/km or less, and 70 percent of Mini models are also eligible: the full list is shown on its website. 

BMW does, however, point out that it has a decent range of electrified and electric models, including the i3, i8, BMW I Performance plug-in hybrids and the new Mini Countryman PHEV…

The small print

Not everyone can just go and buy an old diesel tomorrow in order to save £2,000 on a new BMW or Mini, though. “To ensure fairness,” customers must have owned the car for at least a year. The new model must also be registered to the same name and address as the old trade-in dirty diesel.

BMW vows dealers will give a “suitable average price” for their old car as trade-in: this is on top of the £2,000 allowance.

Only private buyers can take up the offer (sorry, those running seriously tired fleets of diesels) and all new cars must be registered by 31 December 2017. 

“BMW offers the widest range of low emission vehicles of any manufacturer,” said Grieve. “We know in the early phases that people still need some incentive to make the jump to fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles and that is why we are delighted to announce this new allowance.”

Fast Ford fans flocked to Silverstone this weekend for the annual Ford Fair event. In its 32nd year, more than 18,000 Blue Oval fans visited the show, with a wide range of modern, retro and classic Fords on display. Continue scrolling to see the highlights.

With 4,000 cars at the event, there was a Ford for everyone. How small does this Mk2 Escort look next to a Focus ST?

Fans wanting to try their cars on track could book a session on Silverstone’s legendary National circuit throughout the day.

For those searching for a rare part for their Ford, a Retail Village covered a huge area dedicated to traders and a vast autojumble.

To celebrate 15 years of the original Focus RS, the Mk1 Focus RS Owners Club gathered with a line-up of the rare Imperial Blue cars.

Of course, it wasn’t just the Mk1 Focus RS enjoying all the attention. A line-up of Mk2 and Mk3 models, with a wide range of modifications, also featured.

Is this the ultimate fast Ford? Fans enjoyed a rare glimpse of the 2017 Ford GT supercar. Power comes from a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 producing 656hp.

Another iconic anniversary being celebrated at this year’s Ford Fair was 25 years of the Escort RS Cosworth. The blue collar supercar was powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine producing 230hp as standard. But some tuning companies have been able to double that.

Fast Ford fans not taking their cars out on track could get their thrill by watching stunts in the live action arena. Here, Paul Swift’s team put on an incredible display using Focus STs…

Not to mention a new Focus RS, which was driven around the arena on two wheels.

For classic Ford fans, a special Classic Zone featured a variety of Fords from yesteryear.

Ford itself also had a number of models on display, just in case any visitors were considering an upgrade. Here’s a Ford Mustang convertible in 2.3-litre Ecoboost guise.

Even in the age of online auctions, nothing beats an old-fashioned autojumble.

Where else will you find an original Ford GT40 parked next to the new GT? Which would you take home?

How do you measure the value of a car? A low price is one thing, but the gloss will soon wear off if you’re forever spending money on parts and repairs. Equally, a more expensive car could be rated as excellent value for money if it never goes wrong and puts a big smile on your face.

And, sure, a new car review might provide some insight into a vehicle’s strengths and weaknesses, but real-world experience is far more valuable. Which is where Auto Trader’s ‘best value’ list comes in. Using the views of 10,000 car buyers, it has created a rundown of the cost-efficiency of 10 car brands. We’ll present the results in reverse order.

10. Citroen

Once upon a time, Citroen was the world’s most innovative carmaker, before it descended into the automotive equivalent of the bargain basement bucket towards the end of the century. Today, the innovation might be lacking, but its range of cars is arguably more interesting than the supposedly premium DS Automobiles. Discuss…

9. Volvo

This will be seen as a good result for Volvo, with the Swedish brand keen to compete with the premium Germans without adopting a me-too approach to design and marketing. It’s working, because the XC90, XC60, V90 and S90 are terrific cars.

8. SEAT

SEAT is on a bit of a roll at the moment, with motoring experts hailing the new Ateca as the best thing since somebody took a knife to a loaf of bread. The new Ibiza is also a bit of hit and has the potential to steal sales from its Polo sibling and the new Fiesta. SEAT also sells the Toledo…

7. Jaguar

There will be some head-scratching going on at Jaguar Land Rover, with the latter brand near the bottom of Auto Trader’s chart. The Jaguar range is shaping up rather nicely, with products that tick both the ‘head’ and ‘heart’ boxes. If the F-Type appeals to the heart, the F-Pace can appeal to both.

6. Lexus

Such is Lexus’ reputation for reliability and excellence, a top 10 finish was almost guaranteed. The posh arm of Toyota tends to score well in customer satisfaction surveys and was recently named ‘Best Manufacturer’ in the Auto Express Driver Power Survey. In the same survey, its dealers were named the best in Britain.

5. Skoda

And so we reach the top five, where we find Skoda, which has managed to upstage Volkswagen, Audi and SEAT. The Kodiaq is arguably the most convincing new crossover of 2017, although we’re a little sad to be waving goodbye to the Yeti. Its replacement, the Karoq, has a lot to live up to.

4. Hyundai

If you’ve been paying attention, you can probably guess the top four using a process of elimination. Hyundai has always appealed to the head, but the launch of the i30 N hot hatch should add some much needed emotional qualities to the brand. Meanwhile, Hyundai offers a five-year unlimited mileage warranty.

3. Kia

Speaking of warranties… Kia offers a seven-year warranty, but it’s worth noting that, unlike Hyundai’s five-year cover, this one is limited to 100,000 miles. Kia’s range kicks off with the £9,450 Picanto S, but extends to the £42,045 seven-seat Sorento KX-4.

2. Suzuki

Suzuki doesn’t make an expensive car – although the £22,249 Vitara S raises a few eyebrows – but this result is proof that cheap can be cheerful. There’s a ‘Ronseal’ quality to Suzuki’s range: all the cars do exactly as they promise. Even the bargain basement Celerio is well equipped and surprisingly appealing.

1. Dacia

Congratulations, Dacia, because 10,000 Auto Trader readers believe you build the best value cars in Britain. Prices start from £5,995 for the basic Sandero Access, but the majority of buyers splash the cash on some much needed ‘luxuries’. Here’s a side note: far from being worth next to nothing on the secondhand market, we couldn’t find a used Dacia for less than £2,600.

Update (August 31, 2017): Dacia says ‘we keep things simple’

Dacia has responded to news that it’s been voted the best value car brand in the UK. Dacia UK’s head, Louise O’ Sullivan, said: “The Dacia range offers UK drivers the most affordable new cars on the market and a rapidly growing number of them are drawn to the brand because we keep things simple and offer cars we know our customers want.”

It comes a day after Dacia revealed the first photos of its new Duster ahead of its reveal at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show.

It’s an annual decision. Take the car ferry to France, or pop the car on the train? For many it’s a conclusion they came to years ago. Now, throw away your prejudices and take a fresh look at the pros and cons.

Getting there

With Eurotunnel you’ve only once choice – its down the M20 down to Folkestone. The Dover-based ferries also depart from the much same area of the south east of Kent, and end up a few miles apart from each other in Calais. Dover and Folkestone are some 65 miles from the Dartford crossing on the M25.

You don’t have to go to Calais. DFDS Seaways runs a Dover-Dunkirk service, which places you 25 miles up the coast closer to Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Deeper into France

How quick is a short crossing?

Speed is why most people choose Eurotunnel. The crossing time to Calais is 35 minutes. P&O and DFDS take around 90 minutes to do the same, or two hours to Dunkirk. Factor in a 60-minute check-in, though, and the difference between train and ferry becomes 95 minutes and 150 minutes.

What about the long ferry crossings?

Getting you closer to central and western France will require a longer – and more expensive – ferry crossing. It takes approximately four hours to get to Dieppe, six to Caen or Roscoff, and between eight and 12 to St Malo or Le Havre. Overnight crossings tend to take longer than day crossings, so that you can disembark at a respectable time of the morning. Brittany Ferries also has a high-speed ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg that takes just three hours.

How much will it cost?

How long is a piece of string? ‘Fluid’ pricing is commonplace, so that when sales have been high, the best deals disappear – just like Ryanair and Easyjet. Last-minute bookings in August, for a family of four with a car on the short crossings, are around £220 for the ship to Calais, and closer to £300 through the Eurotunnel. Reckon on saving a third of that on the ferries by booking a year ahead. Eurotunnel hasn’t published fares that far in advance, but there will be deals too.

Brittany Ferries, with its longer crossings, is naturally more expensive, and at short notice it was hard to find a crossing for less than £600 at the weekend, rising to nearer £800 on the popular St Malo crossing.

So which is best: ferry or train?

In my view, the ferries win hands down, every time. Do I want to save an hour of my life simply to travel in metal tube, at best industrial-chic, but to my thinking more like putting my car and my family into a larger version of an Underground train? Can I relax here, go for a pleasant walk, get some decent food, find a nice place for a wash and brush up? You already know the answer.

By the time I get to Dover, and I live only 100 miles away, I am ready for a meal, a break, and a tangible sense that I am going on holiday. The ferry does all that for me, and more. Take a long Brittany Ferries crossing and I can step the whole experience up a further notch, with fantastic restaurants and comfortable cabins. My advice is there’s no need to be in such a rush. Chill out and take the boat.

New car registrations have fallen for a fourth consecutive month following uncertainty over Brexit. Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that the market is down 9.3%, with 161,997 new cars registered in July. The top 10 best-selling cars of July contains one or two surprises.

10. Audi A3

The Audi A3 returns to the top 10 with 2,607 registrations in July. It’s based on the same platform as the Volkswagen Golf, but a premium badge and a first-rate interior tempt buyers into spending a little extra cash.

There’s an A3 for everyone – it comes in three-door hatchback, five-door Sportback, four-door saloon and cabriolet body styles. There’s also an e-tron plug-in hybrid and super-fast RS3. With 400hp on tap, it’s the most powerful hot hatch in the world.

9. Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Just nudging ahead of the A3 in the battle for premium hatchback supremacy is the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, with 2,809 registrations in July. It’s one of two Mercedes models to make the top 10.

The A-Class has a starting price of £20,715, which just goes to prove that buyers are prepared to pay more for the ‘right’ badge. The range includes everything from the entry-level 180d diesel to the AMG A45 4matic.

8. Vauxhall Corsa

Last month, the Ford Fiesta was knocked off the top spot by the Volkswagen Golf, as buyers shunned the outgoing model to wait for the new and improved version. A chance for the Vauxhall Corsa to claw back some ground, then?

Only it hasn’t. Instead, the Corsa has slipped to a lowly eighth position, with a grand total of 2,819 registrations. Year-to-date, the Corsa sits fifth overall and is danger of dropping into the bottom half of the table. Oh dear.

7. Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The C-Class has climbed to seventh place, having finished 10th in June. We might be told that the crossover is taking over the world, but the C-Class proves that there’s life in the saloon car. A premium badge certainly helps.

To date, some 30,214 C-Class have left Mercedes-Benz showrooms, making it by far and away the UK’s most popular saloon car. Indeed, it’s the only saloon in the year-to-date top 10. The BMW 3 Series has disappeared from the top 10.

6. Kia Sportage

The Kia Sportage is back in the top 10, securing its position as the nation’s second favourite crossover. A total of 3,155 units were registered in July.

The combination of a five-star Euro NCAP rating, seven-year warranty and excellent value for money edges the Sportage ahead in a competitive sector. Amusingly, there are 11 different trim levels to choose from.

5. Volkswagen Polo

The Volkswagen Polo can also trace its roots back to 1975. A sixth generation Polo will arrive shortly, but the outgoing model is performing well, with 3,227 units shifted in July.

The range kicks off with the basic Polo S at £11,970, with the BlueGT and GTI sitting at the top. So far this year, 30,432 Polos have found homes in the UK. We wouldn’t bet against it overtaking the Corsa by the end of the year.

4. Ford Fiesta

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Having sat at the top of the charts for longer than Bryan Adams, the Ford Fiesta suddenly finds itself in uncharted waters. But don’t worry, it doesn’t need a lifejacket.

The Ford Fiesta is a victim of a model changeover, with buyers waiting for the new version, while dealers reportedly struggle to keep up with demand. In a tweet, Tim Holmes, head of PR for Ford of Britain, said: “Quick shout-out to our colleagues in Cologne to build us more new Fiestas!”

3. Nissan Qashqai

Look, there’s a new face for the UK’s best-selling crossover. Ten years since the Nissan Qashqai arrived on the scene, the second generation model has been treated to a new face, an improved interior and new equipment. A total of 4,640 units were registered in July.

The Qashqai is no longer the freshest or sharpest crossover in its sector, but it remains a terrific all-rounder, which helps it to retain a top 10 position, climbing into the top three in the process.

2. Volkswagen Golf

Following its brief stint at the top of the table in June, the Volkswagen Golf returns to second place in July. A total of 5,236 cars were registered last month, helping to cement the Golf’s position as the third most popular car of 2017.

Prices start from £17,765 for the Golf S, increasing to £32,710 for the Golf R. Estate versions are also available, along with electric and hybrid options.

1. Ford Focus

Surprised? The Ford Focus has muscled in on the territory once dominated by the Fiesta, seeing off the Golf in the process. A total of 5,251 units were registered in July, just 15 more than the VW. The Vauxhall Astra doesn’t make the top 10…

Hot on the heels of the new Fiesta, a new Ford Focus will arrive in 2018. We’re not expecting a radical change to the styling, but we expect it to be lighter than the current model with a host of new tech.

Another month of falling new car sales, another decline in registrations of Vauxhalls. Only in July 2017, it was an eye-watering decline. In 2017, nearly 42 percent fewer Vauxhalls were registered than during the same month in 2016. 42 percent!

In raw numbers, that’s a fall from 19,733 cars to just 11,528 vehicles. 8205 fewer cars sold. And for a brand that was once Britain’s de facto number two – and, at times during the 1990s, the best-selling car maker in the country – that’s little short of staggering.

More Vauxhall on MR:

PSA’s purchase of Vauxhall/Opel from General Motors is complete
Ford vs. Vauxhall: retro hot hatch showdown
New car sales plummet for fourth month in a row

Last month, Vauxhall market share was not only obviously worse than Ford, but also below Volkswagen, Audi… even Mercedes-Benz! Fair enough with VW beating it, as the dieselgate-struck brand is currently very keen to cycle people into the uber-desirable new Golf… but the UK’s only genuinely British volume brand beaten by not one but two premium brands? Something’s really not right there.

Vauxhall has in the past said that it’s fine with market share declines, as it’s chasing profitable sales, not sales at any cost. That’s all well and good, but there has to be a limit to this, surely? Has to be a point at which throughput of new cars at dealers simply isn’t good enough? And how much profit can you really stretch out of an Astra or Corsa, anyway

The new Astra is a good car, and a British-built one at that. Why it’s not selling is thus strange: it’s received strong press reviews and surely the UK-made element is more relevant than ever in our Brexit-obsessed world. Point the finger at bad marketing, perhaps? Because there’s no excuse for it not appearing on the top 10 best-sellers chart for July, not when the ageing Ford Focus can take the top spot.

Superminis are Britain’s favourite type of new car, and here, Vauxhall is hamstrung because the dreary Corsa is now so aged. It’s so archaic, it’s not even able to capitalise on the Ford Fiesta being in model switchover mode: whereas the Ford still came fourth, the Corsa barely struggled to eighth, just 10 units ahead of the Merc A-Class.

As for the rest of Vauxhall’s range, they were nowhere: no Mokka X or Crossland X despite Britain’s love of SUVs, no Insignia Grand Sport despite the new model being again well received. In the same week that its takeover by PSA was confirmed, with new boss Carlos Tavares vowing to keep both the German Opel and British Vauxhall brands, something needs to happen in the management suite at Luton, and fast. Because such a pitiful monthly sales performance really can’t go on for much longer.

Proposals to build tunnels over the most polluted sections of motorway in a bid to protect locals from harmful emissions have been slammed by the RAC.

Highways England has revealed in its latest air quality strategy that it’s considering building physical canopies over motorways, using a special material that can soak up NOx emissions. In the report, the government agency says it is “investigating if we can reduce the costs to construct a canopy, which is a tunnel-like structure designed to prevent vehicle emissions reaching our neighbours”.

But the RAC has raised concerns that rather than soaking up toxic fumes, it might instead deflect emissions back into vehicles – potentially causing harm to drivers and passengers.

“We question whether constructing tunnel-like canopies, even if they are made from a material that can partially clean the air, is the right way to deal with the problem,” said the motoring organisation’s spokesman, Nick Lyes. “All this will do is concentrate potentially toxic air over the road which will have an impact on those inside their vehicles who breathe in the trapped pollution.

“The solution should be about reducing levels of pollution by accelerating the transition to ultra-low and zero emission vehicles and encouraging better traffic flow through variable speed limits – something Highways England has started doing on smart motorways.”

Wooden pollution barriers were installed on the M62 near Manchester in 2015, while a three-metre-high fence coated in a nitrogen oxide-absorbing material is currently being trialled.

The measures are part of a £100 million investment by the UK government to improve air quality by 2021.