Porsche SUV to get ‘green rating’ under new German labelling scheme

[mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]The Bundesrat, the country’s upper house of parliament, will vote tomorrow (Friday 8 July) on a CO₂ labelling law for cars that bases green labels on the ratio of weight to CO₂ emissions.

Arne Richters of Transport & Environment said:
“The German car industry has persuaded its government to produce a green label that would put the Panzer tank in the same fuel efficiency category as a Smart car. The industry are treating their customers with contempt by conning them into thinking their gas guzzling SUVs are green.”

The proposed German label puts the German government on a collision course with the European Commission as a 1999 EU law prohibits car labelling ‘if their display might cause confusion to potential consumers of new passenger cars’ (1).

Richters said: “The German government should go back to the drawing board and then come forward with a new law on labelling to give consumers a much clearer picture of how polluting a car is, and how much it will cost at the pump.”