Diesel making a comeback in Germany – report

Diesel cars are regaining market share in Germany for the first time since the ‘dieselgate’ scandal broke in 2015, Nikolaus Doll reports for Die Welt. In January, more than 34 percent of new car registrations in Germany were diesel, an increase of 2 percent over the year before. “Car experts are already talking about a comeback,” Doll writes. “The question now is whether this is a permanent trend.” Diesel’s market share in Germany still remains below its 2015 peak, when more than half of new car registrations were diesel. But it now looks like fewer regions than expected will enact diesel bans, Doll reports, and experts say until electric car infrastructure is more widespread, diesel will remain an attractive option for many buyers.

VW already said in January that customers in Germany are once again placing more orders for diesel vehicles. Europe’s largest automaker said the share of its new orders for diesel vehicles rose from 39 percent in 2017 to 43 percent in 2018.