As a method of perhaps trying to stop diesel car sales in the country from dropping, Volkswagen has unveiled a new program in its home market that will offer customers the option of replacing a purchased diesel car with a replacement if diesel car restrictions or bans go into effect and they are affected.
Speaking in a recent interview, the new finance minister of Germany was quoted as saying that everything possible must be done to avoid the imposition of diesel car bans in the country’s cities.
Volkswagen board members must be wondering how to put away this never-ending diesel scandal, now in its third year. Despite trying its best to avoid the consequences, the auto giant was once again caught a few months back with emission tricks. Adding insult to injury, a German political scandal is brewing from citizens demanding politicians step in … and many politicians not wanting to step in.
The new transport minister in Germany has been quoted as saying that he opposes the banning of diesel cars and opposes forcing auto manufacturers to retrofit old diesel cars so that they meet current emissions standards, but also that he is not a “buddy” of the auto manufacturers.
Diesel bans in major European cities are spreading like wildfire, necessitating the government and law to step in. And sometimes, the two don’t see eye to eye.
With news of the ruling on Tuesday by a court in Germany that individual cities have the right to ban diesel cars still reverberating throughout the media, the administration of Angela Merkel has reportedly been making the rounds assuring those in the country that widespread bans of diesel cars were unlikely.
Nowhere is the fight between the public good and corporate greed more apparent than in Germany, a nation that has made diesel vehicles the basis of much economic prosperity. To get a better understanding of how important diesel-powered cars are to the German auto industry, watch episode 1 of the new Netflix series Dirty Money. It examines the love affair German car companies have had with diesel engines since the 1970s when OPEC shut off the world’s petroleum supply.
As part of a wider bid to reduce local and regional air pollution problems, the Liverpool City Council is now working to install around 100 plug-in electric vehicle charge points in the city. It is also introducing an anti-idling pilot scheme and creating a so-called “Clean Air Zone.”
The city of Oxford, England, will become the first in the UK to ban all diesel and petrol/gas-powered cars from its city center, if newly revealed plans go through.
Contrary to common political arguments for their use, diesel cars are actually responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions over a full lifecycle basis than gas/petrol cars are, according to a new analysis from Transport & Environment.
