Volkswagen AG is urging federal and state regulators to do more to encourage fuel-efficient diesel vehicles, reports The Detroit News.
“We’re not feeling the love,” said Anna Schneider, vice president for industry and government relations at VW Group of America, at a forum on the future of diesel vehicles Aug. 22 held by the automaker’s luxury unit Audi. “This is one of the greenest choices… It’s time the U.S. government included clean diesel in its ‘all of the above’ strategy’ for greening U.S. roads. Putting these vehicles on the road should be incentivized and not penalized, and that’s our goal.”
Electric vehicles are eligible for federal and state tax credits, single-driver access to carpool lanes, free parking and other benefits. She noted that 15 states impose additional taxes on diesel — and federal diesel taxes are 6 cents higher than gasoline taxes. “When you’re going to the pump you have sticker shock.”
Federal regulators setting the 2012-2025 fuel economy standards to nearly double fleetwide requirements to 54.5 mpg didn’t give diesel vehicles additional credits, as VW and other automakers had lobbied for. The standards come as more automakers are selling diesel passenger cars, including General Motors Co., which launched a diesel Chevrolet Cruze in May in limited markets and will start sales nationwide this fall, according to the news report.
Source: The Detroit News
