VERÄNDERUNG: Germany Paves Way for Diesel Ban, Dealing Blow to Auto Makers.
A German court rang the death knell for certain diesel cars on Tuesday, striking a blow to the country’s flagship auto industry that could now be forced to spend billions to upgrade or replace millions of cars.
In a landmark decision, Germany’s Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that German cities Stuttgart and Düsseldorf could ban diesel vehicles from urban traffic as a way to reduce pollution, rejecting an appeal of a lower-court ruling. Ultimately, the ruling clears the way for any German city to ban older diesel vehicles and could inspire similar measures in cities around Europe, analysts said.
The closely watched ruling is likely to accelerate the demise of a technology that German auto makers have pushed as a panacea that provides solid driving performance, fuel economy and low greenhouse gas emissions, but which has been largely been discredited in the wake of widespread emissions-cheating scandals at Volkswagen and other car makers.
Germany may ban the cars they incentivized people into buying.