A Reuters report quoting official information from Bosch says diesel-powered cars will continue to be sold at the same rate in Germany as before the VW scandal. That’s according to the parts giant’s CEO, Volkmar Denner, who did admit that there was a need for action to maintain the same level of sales.
Denner said “it will depend, though, on an active campaign for diesel to quickly dispel the current uncertainty that many consumers are feeling,” while the Economy Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, said that at the same time, the German government needs to make electrified vehicles more accessible too.
So basically, since electrified vehicles were already growing in popularity and diesel was starting to get a bit of a bad rep in Europe, these will continue to attract more people away from the two conventional alternatives (petrol and diesel). If extra incentives are offered and these cars will start to compete with oil burners on price and efficiency it will be tricky for diesels to not be swept away.
What role does Bosch have to play in the whole VW story? Well, it’s the company that supplied the engine management software to VW, but it’s denying having had any involvement in the emissions scamming scheme.
When Denner was asked (at the opening of the Renningen research campus) to state where Bosch’s contribution ended or just how much it actually collaborated with VW on the software, he refused to comment.
Expect to see some VW-endorsed videos about how oh-so nice diesel cars are. It sounds like it will be a big bucks campaign (the word is used by the Bosch official), but we can’t say if it will be a covert one…