BMW‘s hometown of Munich is considering banning older diesels, following a government study which detected hazardous pollution levels in the Bavarian city.
If such a decision was to be made, exceptions would only apply to buses, taxis and newer diesels that meet Europe’s latest Euro 6 emission standards, as reported by Autonews.
Already cities like London and Paris, to Mercedes’ hometown of Stuttgart, are moving to restrict older diesel cars, as people are becoming more and more concerned about harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxide which can cause cancer.
Despite more customers switching to gasoline-powered cars and light trucks, diesel-powered vehicles still account for 50% of all European new-car sales. In comparison, petrol-powered cars are less fuel efficient (still) and emit higher levels of carbon dioxide.
This latest proposal from Munich comes after a German appeals court ruled that the city acted in an unlawful manner, allowing high levels of nitrogen oxide pollution. A decision for Munich could be finalized this year.
Of course, a ban on diesels would be particularly hard on premium brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. For BMW, diesel models accounted for 71% of all European sales in the first four months of 2017 – down 4.2% from the previous year.
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