Fix end date for combustion engine cars after coalition talks – Green Party head

The Greens’ call for an end to the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2030 was meant to deliver a “wake-up call to the German industry", said Cem Özdemir, co-head and one of the two leading candidates for the Green Party in the upcoming elections, in an interview with Tagesspiegel. "With this demand, we will head into coalition talks. In the end, there must be a fixed end date”, said Özdemir. The German car industry faces serious planning and scheduling problems because of the federal government’s zigzag course on the future of mobility, said Özdemir. “I don’t want German cars to become a niche product, while the cars of the future are being built in China or the US. That will only work if the government provides clear guidelines.”

Read the interview in German here.

For background, read the CLEW dossier Vote2017 - German elections and the Energiewende and the factsheet The debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany.