VW truck subsidiary Traton: Euro 7 emissions standard will cost us one billion euros

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BERLIN/MUNICH (dpa-AFX) – The VW truck holding company Traton (Volkswagen (VW) vz) expects additional costs in the billions for the planned Euro 7 emissions standard. “In the event that the law comes as it is now planned, we will be burdened with enormous costs of roughly one billion euros in the group for investing in an expiring technology, although we are facing a huge transformation,” said the boss of the Traton brand MAN, Alexander Vlaskamp, ​​in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag” (“WamS”). “The proposed rules for cleaning are so strictly defined that we actually need more fuel and the nitrogen oxides are still only marginally reduced,” said the manager. Instead of the new emission standard, Vlaskamp called for subsidies for the purchase of new trucks with the Euro 6 standard to replace older vehicles.

The automotive industry – both car and truck manufacturers – lobbied heavily against the adoption of new EU emission standards for combustion engines. Above all, the manufacturers expect additional costs in order to be able to comply with the stricter rules – in view of the foreseeable shift towards emission-free electric and possibly also fuel cell drives, they consider the expense to be too high. The EU Commission, on the other hand, argues that, among other things, pollutants whose emissions are already regulated by the applicable Euro 6 standard are not covered in some areas by the test methods prescribed up to now.

There is a dispute not only in Brussels because some countries want to block the new emissions regulations. There is also gossip in the federal government. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) insists that Euro 7 be launched within a year. The coalition partner FDP is against it, Transport Minister Volker Wissing recently spoke of a mistake in charging the automotive industry and commercial vehicle manufacturers with considerable costs.

In November, the EU Commission made proposals to revise the limit values ​​for pollutants such as nitrogen oxides. Another new feature of the planned Euro 7 standard is that future pollutants such as particulate matter should be regulated by tire wear and brakes. This means that electric cars and hydrogen vehicles would also be affected by the rules. EU states and the European Parliament still have to negotiate the project and agree on a common line. It is currently planned that the rules should come into force in 2025 or in 2027 for trucks and buses./men/ag