VW head Müller says diesel should lose tax privilege

Diesel cars should lose their privileged tax treatment in Germany to release funds for the development of more environmentally friendly engine technologies, VW CEO Matthias Müller said in an interview with Handelsblatt. Müller said investing in other engine types was a more “reasonable” approach than upholding the tax break for diesel cars, which amount to about eight billion euros per year, according to the newspaper. “I’m now convinced that we should question the diesel support’s usefulness. If the shift to more environmentally friendly e-cars is to be successful, the combustion engine diesel cannot be supported forever,” Müller argued, adding that diesel tax breaks should be gradually phased out. Diesel fuel in Germany is taxed at about 47 cents per litre, while petrol is taxed at about 65.5 cents.

Read the interview in German here (behind paywall).

Read a CLEW timeline on the dieselgate fraud here and a dossier on Germany's car makers and the green transport revolution here.