Volkswagen is hopeful that an "amicable solution" to the problem of the contentious new Euro 7 emissions proposals is emerging after discussions involving the European Commission, VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer has said.
If not, VW is likely to discontinue the Polo due to the cost burden, he warned.
The car industry slammed the proposals announced in November last year, describing them as “unworkable” and “useless”.
Manufacturers have hotly contested the Commission’s claim that the proposals will add €90-€150 (£79-£131) to the price of a car, warning that they may need to cancel smaller models altogether.
VW has said its Polo model is under threat. “Smaller combustion-engine vehicles will become prohibitively expensive,” Schäfer told Autocar at a recent event to unveil the ID 2all concept, which previews an electric small car VW wants to sell alongside the Polo from 2025. “It literally makes it impossible to continue with a small [ICE] vehicle as it currently stands.”
Schäfer said he raised the additional cost with the Commission in a recent meeting, arguing that it might be true for bigger cars but not for smaller models. “The new measures are not a big problem for something like a Audi A6, which already has hybrid technology and an auto gearbox,” he said. The extra cost comes from adding that technology to a budget car. “It makes a dying technology prohibitively expensive.”
The timescale to apply Euro 7 from 1 July 2025 for new cars and light vans is also far too short, given that some of the proposals have still to be tested and verified. Schäfer cited the requirement to send on-board diagnostics back to the Commission to confirm vehicles are continuing to achieve their emissions targets over the course of their life. The same is also true for measuring particulates from brakes and tyres.
However, discussions are moving in the direction of the car maker, Schäfer believes. “There’s probably a lot of misunderstandings,” he said. “From the engagements we’ve had recently, I had the feeling there is an amicable solution going forward. I hope so.”
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History is not relevant. What is relevant is the level of future emissions. The choice we face is whether we make large numbers of relatively cheap small ICE cars before their production is banned in 2035. These will be on the roads for maybe 20 years so it matters, but the option is to not allow them and instead face the pollution of far older cars which those who cannot afford new electric cars will be forced into using. It is not an option to legislate or tax these older cars out of existance as this would disenfranchise the poorest on society and may even create social unrest or add to the conditions for it. Our us and them society is getting more polarised each year and the richest 1% find ever more devious ways to limit capital growth in the bottom 60% and instead funnel it to themselves. Until we get to the point where inner city transport is almost entirely cheap light weight auto driven pods which are not owned but easily accessed, we face this problem.
We could lose the VW Polo? NNNNNOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Seriosuly, one of the nastiest tinniest modern buzz-boxes I've ever had the displeasure of sitting in. Surprised it's still on sale.
VW need to f*** off, they took a massive grant/loan/backhander from the EU to develop a new range of clean modern diesel engines, they pocketed the money and cheated on the emissions, it took action by the American authorities to bring it to light, then other manufacturers where found to using similar tactics, whilst some actually spent money to achieve the requirements. This effectively led to the demise of the diesel engine (which is still the best choice for many users), and has now led to the forthcoming demise of the ICE within Europe, and now they are complaining that the emissions standards are to hard to achieve. They really are a disgraceful company.
This.