Merkel. Dieselgate. Di masochismo si può anche morire.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2018-04-10.

«Sales of new cars increased strongly across Germany in February, industry data showed Friday. The number of new cars registered on the country’s roads rose by 7 percent to 261,700 last month, the VDA manufacturers’ association said in a fresh report.

The figure brought the total for the first two months of the year to 531,000, the highest level since 1999, the industry lobby group said in a statement.

Nonetheless, sales of new diesel cars continued to decline, separate data from the KBA vehicle licensing authority revealed.

While 62.9 percent of new cars were gasoline-powered, diesel vehicles accounted for just 32.5 percent in February, marking a staggering 19.5-percentage-point drop from a year earlier.

Looming driving bans

Diesel drivers, politicians and industry watchers closely followed a court ruling earlier this week that paved the way for older diesel cars to be banned from a number of cities because of their high NOx emissions.

There is much discord over how to bring down air pollution levels in cities and whether the situation can be improved without actually imposing driving bans.

Over the first two months, domestic carmakers increased their German sales by around 8 percent, while foreign manufacturers managed to shift 13 percent more cars year on year, VDA officials reported.» [Fonte]

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Nei primi due mesi dell’anno in Germania sono state vendute 531,000 automobili: le automobili con motore diesel erano il 32.5%, con un calo anno/anno del 19.5%. 300,000 automobili diesel vendute in meno non è cifra da poco, un danno minimo stimato di 15 miliardi di euro. Ma questo è solo il danno dalle mancate vendite. Il vero danno è legato al circolante.

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Trump. Epa. Saranno rivisti i livelli massimi di emissioni degli automezzi.

Gli Stati Uniti innalzeranno le emissioni massime consentite per le automobili diesel, per cui il loro mercato non dovrebbe risentire troppo dei rumors su questo tipo di motore.

La Germania invece non solo non ha variato la legge che stabilisce le emissioni massime tollerabili, ma si trova anche un buon numero di Corti di Giustizia che hanno proibito la circolazione delle autovetture diesel nelle principali città tedesche. Inquinano: quindi, tutti a piedi

Adesso il Governo tedesco si trova tra due fuochi.

German court rules cities can ban diesel cars to tackle pollution.

Court ruling marks a ‘dark day’ for German diesel cars.

Federal court gives green light for diesel ban in German cities.

O il Governo federale tedesco cambia i massimali nella legge sulle emissioni diesel, perdendoci la faccia peraltro già persa, oppure mette immediatamente in crisi tutto il settore dell’automotive, ossia quello che una volta era la sua principale fonte di finanziamenti.

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Per non parlare dei tedeschi inferociti. Hanno firmato cambiali su cambiali per potersi permettere un’automobile nuova ed adesso scoprono che non la possono usare. Almeno a prima vista questo sembrerebbe essere un cattivo segnale elettorale.

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In realtà il Governo tedesco sta meditando una manovra liberal classica.

Far montare in modo coatto un device che riduca le emissioni, il tutto a spese del Contribuente. Che poi funzioni mica che sia detto, ovviamente.

«The German government could be planning a multibillion euro scheme to retrofit diesel cars to cut emissions»

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«The government desperately wants to avoid diesel cars being banned from city centers»

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«The plan reportedly calls for the creation of a multibillion euro fund financed jointly by car companies and the German government to retrofit diesel cars with filtration technology»

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«The process would initially target diesel engines for which retrofit kits already exist, mainly US export models.»

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«The retrofitting would initially take place in regions under threat of driving bans, namely Stuttgart, the Rhine-Main area and Munich»

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«To date, German car makers have insisted on a software solution to their emissions fraud, arguing hardware upgrades are too costly and expensive»

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«Millions of German-made diesel cars, from various manufacturers, were rigged to defeat emissions tests»

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Orgoglio e pregiudizio. Più una grande dose di masochismo.

Ed intanto le elezioni in Baviera ed in Hessen si stanno avvicinando.

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→ Deutsche Welle. 2018-04-07. Germany considering retrofitting diesel scandal cars: report

The German government could be planning a multibillion euro scheme to retrofit diesel cars to cut emissions. The government desperately wants to avoid diesel cars being banned from city centers.

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The German coalition government is considering a plan to retrofit diesel cars affected by the emissions scandal, according to a report in German news weekly Der Spiegel on Friday.

Diesel car owners in Germany have been left in the lurch as they face potential city driving bans as well as lousy resale values due to multiple car makers cheating on emission tests and being unwilling to physically rectify the issues.

State support

The plan reportedly calls for the creation of a multibillion euro fund financed jointly by car companies and the German government to retrofit diesel cars with filtration technology. The process would initially target diesel engines for which retrofit kits already exist, mainly US export models.

The retrofitting would initially take place in regions under threat of driving bans, namely Stuttgart, the Rhine-Main area and Munich.

Government dampens expectations

A Federal Ministry of Finance spokesman said there should be no government spending for projects outside of the priority measures outlined in the coalition agreement. “The program mentioned in the report is not one of these priority measures and is not known to the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer told the German Press Agency: “We will be working hard in Meseberg (at a coalition meeting next week) with the aim of improving the air quality in our cities even further. Our guideline is the coalition agreement.”

A spokesman for the Federal Environment Ministry said: “We need to retrofit older diesel cars. This is the only way to improve the air quality in the cities and the only way to avoid driving bans and stop the loss in value of diesel engines. It is the task of the Federal Ministry of Transport to implement this.”

SPD deputy faction leader Sören Bartol said: “Industry has to make a choice: Either the diesel will be completely up against the wall when urban driving is banned, or it has another chance as a bridge technology.”

Industry hesitant

To date, German car makers have insisted on a software solution to their emissions fraud, arguing hardware upgrades are too costly and expensive.

Millions of German-made diesel cars, from various manufacturers, were rigged to defeat emissions tests. German carmakers have been accused of organizing a secret cartel to collaborate on emission controls, standards, technology, costs and suppliers for years.

In light of this, various German cities have been pushing to ban diesel engines from their highly polluted centers. Judges ruled in late February that such bans are legal if they are used to reduce levels of harmful fine particles and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the air. The government has been trying to avoid any such bans.

The current government is formed of a coalition between Angela Merkel’s CDU, its Bavarian sister party the CSU, and the Social Democrats. Before committing to govern together they put together a contract that outlines the road map for the next few years.

The Grand Coalition will meet for its first closed meeting this Tuesday and Wednesday in the federal government’s guesthouse in Meseberg Castle in Brandenburg.