Diesel SUV Sales Dropping Dramatically In Germany
In the first 4 months of 2018, the proportion of new German SUV registrations dropped almost in half from where it was before DieselGate and the impending bans on older diesels in some cities, like Hamburg. The dramatic decline was documented by a study conducted at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) located in the University of Duisburg-Essen.
It’s great news for the environment, but not so good for auto manufacturers there. VW, Daimler, and BMW invested in diesel technology, but the problems with diesel emissions and all the negative press appear to have had quite a dampening effect on consumer interest. Gas-powered car sales are now increasing, reportedly, and there is interest in the alternatives as well, “According to the KBA, cars offering more environmentally friendly engines gained ground in May, with sales of electric and hybrid vehicles jumping more than 50 percent to around 12,000 units sold.”
The EU has set a lower emissions restriction for new cars in the year 2021, “The target of 130g/km was phased in between 2012 and 2015. From 2015 onwards, all newly registered cars must comply with the limit value curve. A shorter phase-in period will apply to the target of 95 g/km. 95% of each manufacturer’s new cars will have to comply with the limit value curve in 2020, increasing to 100% in 2021.”
Diesels typically emit less CO2 than gas-powered vehicles, but they produce more nitrogen oxide, which is a major air pollutant, “Long-term exposure to these pollutants is linked to a range of adverse health outcomes, including disability and reduced life expectancy due to stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.”
Naturally, the connection between nitrogen oxide and these terrible diseases is very bad, but if you add the public health figures, you can see it is actually much worse, “At a global level, the study estimates that the impact of all real-world diesel nitrogen oxide emissions will grow to 183,600 early deaths in 2040, unless something is done to reduce it.”
Generally speaking, the SUV fad or trend, is irrational in that no one needs a 5,000-pound vehicle to drive to the office or grocery store. Personal consumption is often irrational, so the demand for overly large, very expensive SUVS may continue, but in Germany manufacturers might have to drop the diesels and go with gas-powered hybrids or all-electric versions.
Apparently, Mercedes has been working on all-electric SUV which may be released in 2019. Early reports, which might be more speculation than anything else, are that it could have a range of 300 miles per charge.
The Audi E-tron SUV release has been pushed back, perhaps by the arrest of the company’s CEO over alleged diesel emissions cheating.
Air pollution can be very hazardous, and even deadly, but the disadvantages of SUVs don’t stop there. In some situations, this vehicle type is simply not as safe, “When it came to crashes that caused injuries but not deaths, Dr. Dennis Durbin of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention said children in minivans were 35 percent less likely to be hurt than children in S.U.V.’s.”
So, maybe it’s better that German diesel SUV sales are in a decline.
Image Credit: Alexander Prevot, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0
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