BERLIN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A study commissioned by the German Ministry for the Environment on Wednesday has questioned the efficacy of diesel software updates recently announced by German carmakers.
The measures agreed on August 2 at the so-called "Diesel Summit" would not ensure that nitrogen oxide pollution in cities fell below the average annual 40 micrograms per cubic meter regulatory threshold.
Minister for the Environment Barbara Hendricks (SPD) renewed her call for more comprehensive, and costlier, technical retro-fitting measures, based on the findings compiled by the Federal Environment Agency. Hendricks criticized that the one-digit percentage reduction in urban nitrogen oxide emissions projected by the study was insufficient.
The Minister added that even proposed "environmental premiums" to incentivize consumers to buy more ecologically-friendly cars of the Euro 6 diesel motor type would only lead to a two percent reduction in pollution.
"The environment will benefit most if the premium motivates individuals to above all purchase smaller, more efficient cars," said Hendricks, who also recommended buying fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicles, as well as hybrids and electric vehicles.
The German Federation for Motor Trades and Repairs (ZDK), which represents German car dealerships, joined in Hendrick's criticism of software updates on Wednesday.
ZDK president Juergen Karpinski told the newspaper "Handelsblatt" that "hardware-solutions were much more cumbersome, but also far more effective than the announced software updates".
Karpinski's concerns were further echoed by the Head of the Association of Volkswagen dealers Dirk Weddigen von Knapp. "The trust of customers can only be regained with technical retro-fittings," Weddigen von Knapp said.
