At an unprecedented summit in Berlin, protests forced a last minute change in venue for emergency diesel talks between the German government and the country’s auto industry.
The summit shifted to the more secured Interior Ministry after Greenpeace and other protestors descended on the Transport Ministry, where the chief executives of Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and BMW AG had been summoned to face off with ministers and state leaders. The participants are seeking to hash out a future for diesel despite the steady drumbeat of negative news and concerns about air pollution.
The two sides are working on a host of measures designed to lower emissions of nitrogen oxides, which cause smog and health problems. On one hand, environmentalist advocates, and the other, the German automakers, who need diesel as a stop-gap technology to buy time to catch up with the electric offerings of Tesla Inc. and Nissan Motor Co.
Dealing with the crisis is a difficult balancing act in Germany, where every fifth job depends on the industry and the sector accounts for more than half of the country’s trade surplus.
Carmakers, and especially Germany’s premium manufacturers, need diesel to power their luxury sedans and a growing fleet of sport utility vehicles, as consumers remain reticent to buy a sparse lineup of electric cars. Diesel emits about a fifth less of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide compared with equivalent gasoline engines, making the technology key in meeting the European Union’s tough emissions regulation, which will tighten further beginning in 2020.
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Source: Bloomberg, 3 August 2017