Press Release

UK car industry’s desperate attempt to wash out diesel cars’ image

March 11, 2015

Today's greenwashing of dirty diesel by the UK car industry is an attempt to hide the fact that a typical diesel car emits 10 times more nitrogen oxides than an equivalent gasoline car, sustainable transport group Transport & Environment has said. With 12 out of 13 Euro 6 diesel cars failing to achieve the Euro 6 limit in tests conducted on the road, the SMMT is ignoring the inconvenient truth that new diesels can’t reach the limits agreed back in 2007 without fitting new technology.

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T&E released a briefing detailing six facts about diesel that the car industry would rather not tell motorists.

Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at T&E, commented: “Carmakers are trying to greenwash dirty diesel to hide the truth that compared to a petrol car a typical new diesel car on the road emits 10 times more nitrogen oxides. While carmakers claim modern diesels are clean they are pushing to delay and weaken the introduction of new pollution tests. This is because most new diesels can’t reach the limits agreed back in 2007 without fitting new technology.”

“If carmakers want to keep selling diesels they should clean up the exhausts by simply using existing technology. This would reduce the tens of thousands of deaths annually caused by air pollution, which is an invisible killer.”

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