Germany holds diesel summit
GERMAN ministers and car bosses held crisis talks yesterday, seeking to cut inner-city pollution to avert outright bans on diesel cars in a belated attempt to restore the tarnished reputation of the country’s motor industry.
Since Volkswagen admitted to cheating US diesel emissions tests in September 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has come under fire for not doing enough to crack down on vehicle pollution and for being too close to powerful car makers.
The issue has become a central campaign topic ahead of national elections next month and the government is keen to show it is taking action as environmental groups go to the courts to try to force major cities to ban diesel vehicles.
But ministers are also wary of angering the drivers of 15 million diesel vehicles and damaging the country’s biggest exporter, providing about 800 000 jobs.
North-Rhine Westphalia premier Armin Laschet said: “We still need a strong auto industry. We need to save diesel . . . but there must also be a new push into the electric era.”
The state is home to about a third of Germany’s automotive suppliers.
In recent weeks, Britain and France announced long-term plans to ban diesel and petrol vehicles and Tesla launched its first mass-market electric car.
Top German car makers are being investigated by European regulators for alleged anticompetitive collusion.
An opinion poll published by Die Welt newspaper yesterday showed 73% of Germans want politicians to be tougher on automotive pollution.
German car sales data showed yesterday that diesel car sales fell 12.7% in July.
Now diesel makes up only 40.5% of the country’s new car sales, down from 46% at the end of last year.