Germany is the birthplace of the automobile but it's not immune from the passage of time as Chancellor Angela Merkel has conceded the days of the internal combustion engine are coming to an end.
In an interview with Super Illu, Merkel said the decision of fellow European countries to ban traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles is the "right" approach. She suggested Germany could eventually join countries such as Norway and the United Kingdom but stated “I can’t give you a precise year yet.”
Despite the hype over this statement, Merkel went on to say "we need modern diesel engines which, at the same time, meet the nitrogen oxide standards." She added diesel engines continue to make sense as they have lower CO2 emissions than their gasoline counterparts.
Some officials have proposed diesel bans but Merkel rejects this idea. She says the government must "do everything to avoid driving bans, because we would punish people who have bought a car in good faith."
Following the interview, German environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe declared current efforts to reduce diesel emissions ineffective.
In a statement, the group's leader said "Two weeks after the diesel summit, many diesel owners have realized that the placebo software updates will not prevent their vehicles from being affected by the coming bans. An accurate analysis shows that the software updates do not have a reduction of nitrogen oxide during the winter months and a maximum of two percent in the summer."
Jürgen Resch went on to say incentives to get owners of older diesel vehicles to purchase something more eco-friendly models are nothing more than "a plump sales promotion for dinosaurs of the car industry."
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