Environment minister Schulze says German carmakers can afford diesel hardware retrofitting

Germany’s environment minister Svenja Schulze says the carmakers implicated in the ongoing diesel emissions fraud scandal are capable of financing a hardware retrofitting of manipulated cars, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Spiegel Online. “The coalition treaty says that we want to retrofit the vehicles if this is technically possible and economically viable,” Schulze says, adding that “both conditions are fulfilled.” Costs per vehicle amount to 1,000 to 3,000 euro, according to a government report. The social democratic minister said this was not too much to protect public health and avoid driving bans, which in turn would diminish the value of affected diesel cars. The costs could be reduced if carmakers cooperate, Schulze said. “What is clear is that the manufacturers have to pay for retrofitting as they have caused this problem.”  

Read the article in German here.

See the CLEW factsheet on diesel driving bans for background.