Automobile industry association says diesel emissions must be reduced to zero, while environmentalists say emissions are already low
Diesel cars must be phased out by 2025 and alternative fuels must be introduced by 2020, the German auto industry association Daimler has said, in a move that will add further pressure on the European Union to act on climate change.
The lobbying group for Germany's carmakers said the diesel emissions scandal was undermining the EU's switch to cleaner fuels, now 20% of its energy supply, and highlighted that the EU was already receiving emissions commitments "in excess" of expected levels.
"In the long run, we will have to find a way to eliminate diesel altogether," the Daimler group said in a statement on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the European Commission said a new directive on reducing greenhouse gases, due to come into force in July, would set specific targets for 2020 to 2020, the first time it will set targets for the three-year period since it was set up in 2009.
Daimler's statement was published as environmental campaigners launched a campaign against car manufacturers, backed by some of Europe's biggest car makers including Mercedes, Audi and BMW, that are lobbying to maintain diesel sales.
Their plan, dubbed TalkClean, will call on the industry to get a cut of up to 50% of their total emissions from the fuels their cars use – so-called 'clean diesels'