The head of the prominent German environmental advocacy group DUH, Juergen Resch, was recently quoted as saying that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was being “remotely controlled” by the country’s auto industry.
The settlement talks between the US Justice Department + California Air Resources Board and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in relation to purported diesel vehicle emissions fraud are now in an “advanced” phase, the court-appointed advisor overseeing the process revealed yesterday.
The federal government of Germany is looking to avoid the diesel car bans and usage restrictions in the country — on every level of government, whether regional or city level — German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
On cue, and following earlier reports that the government was considering the creation of a joint fund with auto manufacturers to finance diesel car retrofits so as to lower emissions, Germany’s Transport Minister has denied that any such actions had been considered.
The government of Germany is now considering the creation of a new joint-fund with the country’s auto manufacturers as a means of funding the retrofit of diesel cars in the country so as to reduce emissions.
Diesel car sales in the UK fell by over a third in March on the back of continuing talk of possible selective diesel car bans as well as continuing fallout from the Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal. That’s according to new figures from the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
What do you do with 294,000 dirty, polluting diesel cars you have to remove from the streets? Volkswagen has had to figure that out as it has bought back dieselgate cars and held them as they await government-approved modification to fix the original technical cheats and high emissions.
Following the recent ruling by a court in Germany that cities there have the right to ban diesel cars as a means of improving air quality, the share of the country’s total auto market held by diesel cars has been falling sharply.
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.
