Andreas Scheuer, Minister of Transport, announced after the meeting that Volkswagen and Daimler are ready to contribute three thousand euros to retrofitting their cars. Previously, the two car manufacturers offered EUR 2400 for the conversion. BMW does not, however, want to take part in the transformation of cars, only to encourage the replacement of old cars.
Following the meeting, Daimler announced that it is ready to support the owners of older Mercedes-Benz diesel cars in the purchase of up-to-the-third exhaust gas cleaning systems in regions heavily affected by air pollution.
At the same time, Daimler stated in its announcement that the retrofit equipment should be officially licensed and should be demonstrably contributing to the reduction of air pollution.
BMW continues to rigidly reject the retrofitting of its older diesel models. According to Klaus Fröhlich's Development Director, replacing old cars with new ones can be more effective and faster in achieving air purity. Diesel engine retrofitting will also require at least three years of mass production for mature equipment, with accelerated development work, he pointed out.
"Instead of investing in the technology of the past, a full-scale filling station network should be created for electric mobility," said Manfred Schoch, chairman of the BMW Works Council.
Diesel owners have to deal with the ban on recovery in many German cities. Air pollution levels in at least fifteen major German cities are well above the permissible values.
German environmental organizations have denied diesel cars in some major German cities, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt, on the basis of a lawsuit initiated by the federal court in February this year, to ban diesel vehicles from downtown traffic. starting next year.
On Thursday, the Cologne Administrative Court, on the basis of a claim by the environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe, said that the city of Cologne and Bonn should impose a ban on recovery for older diesel cars due to high air pollution. According to this, Euro 4 and older diesel cars will not be able to enter the inner areas of cities from April next year, and Euro 5 cars from September onwards.
