Buy A Volvo And Fly Free To Europe

This Article Originally Appeared On Car Throttle

Want to travel around the world? Well, if you’re an American and you’ve ever wanted to visit Europe, and just happen to also be in the market for a European car, there are a number of incentive programs that might just appeal to you.

As we’re in the UK, there are no programs like this on offer – EU regulations make it easy to ship cars around, and since we drive on the opposite side to the rest of the world, cool American cars rarely make it over here anyway – so a Reddit post brought the existence of these programs to our attention.

The programs have been around for years, and are offered by Volvo, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The details of each varies slightly between each manufacturer, but the basic premise is that you’re flown to Europe to collect your car, which you can drive while you’re on holiday. Once your trip is over, the manufacturer will ship your car home for you, usually covering all costs, including taxes.

Why? According to the manufacturers it’s mostly to create brand loyalty, as customers will never forget their trip of a lifetime. It’s also useful for customers, as the car is often much cheaper than it would have been buying in America due to the savings on import tax and dealer markups. It’s also win-win – unless you’re the dealer being circumnavigated – as the manufacturer can save, for example, £7000 on the cost of a car, and offer a £5000 reduction in price, thus making a little extra profit.