Sadiq Khan asks BMW, Mercedes and VW to fund air pollution scheme
BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have been accused of “double standards” by London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, after it emerged that the firms had paid £223m ($290m) to the German Sustainable Mobility Fund for Cities, but nothing to the UK. Khan has written to the car manufacturers asking them to contribute to a fund designed to tackle London’s air pollution crisis. Figures released on Wednesday revealed that every inhabitant of the capital is breathing air in breach of global guidelines for PM2.5 particle pollution.
Together with the German Federal, state and municipal governments and German automakers, the Volkswagen Group will make a decisive contribution to a swift and sustained reduction in NOx emissions. A key element of this package is the trade-in incentive for Euro 1 - Euro 4 diesel models which will apply across all brands in the Group. In addition, the software update for Euro 5 and some Euro 6 diesel vehicles will be available throughout Europe and not just in Germany.

“With the incentive to trade in their vehicles we are giving our customers strong motivation to switch to a modern, more environmentally compatible vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine or an alternative drivetrain technology“, Matthias Müller said. “This incentive can be implemented quickly and will have a swift, quantifiable and sustained effect on significantly reducing NOx emissions and significantly improving air quality.”

The incentive is currently being prepared by the Group’s Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Porsche and Volkswagen Commercial vehicles brands and will be on offer soon.

Pan-European software update for Group vehicles

In Germany, the Volkswagen Group will install a software update on approx. four million Euro 5 and some Euro 6 diesel vehicles in total as agreed in order to reduce NOx emission levels. This figure also includes the approx. 2.5 million vehicles already being recalled, of which more than 70 percent have already been refitted.

In addition, the Volkswagen Group will be offering the software update to its diesel customers throughout Europe. As a result, NOx emissions from Euro 5 and some Euro 6 diesel vehicles currently on the market can be reduced by an average 25 to 30 percent.

Furthermore, the Volkswagen Group will contribute to the €500 million “sustainable mobility fund for cities”. The auto industry and the Federal government will each contribute €250 million. The Volkswagen Group’s contribution to the fund will be proportionate to its market share in Germany and will therefore represent a substantial amount.