A group of national environmental organisations on Monday reportedly urged German car makers to pull out of a California lawsuit against the US state’s proposed stricter clean air regulations, accusing them of double standards.
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In letters addressed to the heads of BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Porsche and Volkswagen, nine German environmental groups urged the companies to make more environmentally friendly cars, instead of fighting laws that would force them to do so, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“It is hypocrisy that the German automobile industry portrays itself as environmentally friendly on the one hand and on the other hand, legally challenges a decisive environmental regulation,” Manfred Treber from the Germanwatch organisation said, according to the report.
The letters reportedly argued that several other US states and Canada were ready to adopt similar regulations, which would make them the law for one-third of the North American car market.
The Associated Press said the regulations, adopted in September, call for smaller engines and other technological changes to cut emissions by 25% for cars and light trucks, and about 18% for larger trucks and SUVs, and are to be phased in by 2009.
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By GlobalDataAP added that the four German car makers joined Ford, General Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda and Toyota in December to sue to block the regulations, saying they must by law be the responsibility of the federal government.
Car makers have long opposed – unsuccessfully – the state of California’s insistence on mandating more stringent exhaust emission limits than those imposed at a federal level for other states.
In recent years, the California rules have, in effect, been mandated by five north-eastern states, including Massachussets and New York.
One side-effect is that certain diesel models made by German car makers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz cannot legally be sold in the six states with tougher emissions laws.
