Fuel nozzle at a gas station
Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / DPADiesel cars are increasingly becoming obsolete in the German car market. In July, the diesel only accounted for 29.2 percent of new registrations, as industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer reports. Even including the rare hybrid vehicles based on diesel, they only come to 32.5 percent.
Such low values were last recorded in 2009, when state scrapping premiums had primarily promoted the acquisition of small cars, which at that time were mainly powered by gasoline engines.
After the emissions scandal and the subsequent driving bans, the sale of diesel vehicles had already fallen sharply. In 2019, however, there was again a slight increase. Now the numbers are falling again.
Dudenhöffer does not expect a trend reversal, although technical solutions for the heavily criticized pollutant emissions of diesel cars have now been found. Even among the once loyal corporate customers, the diesel has lost its importance - its share has fallen from 77 percent of all new company cars at the beginning of 2015 to currently 45 percent or 51.6 percent including the hybrid versions with additional electric motors.
While the hybrids are tax-favored, the cost advantage of the diesel disappears, warned Dudenhöffer. The energy tax still has the advantage over premium gasoline, but the planned CO2 taxation will reduce the price difference. Lower numbers also mean higher costs for the individual car, to which the complex exhaust gas cleaning also contributes. Dudenhöffer concludes: "The phase out of diesel has begun."
Icon: The mirrorhda / dpa
