Cars
The Smell of Diesel Will Linger in Frankfurt This Week
- Consumers desert diesel on fears of inner-city driving bans
- Electric cars may come too late to help meet EU’s 2021 targets
The Factors Driving Electric Vehicles Forward
Volkswagen AG, Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG will unveil a raft of sleek electric-car concepts at the Frankfurt International Auto Show this week, revving up the hype machine to cover up the air of desperation gripping the German auto industry.
The world’s preeminent automakers are scrambling to recover, two years after Volkswagen’s diesel-emissions cheating blindsided the champions of the now-besmirched technology. With their big vehicles, German carmakers are particularly reliant on diesel in their home market of Europe and had been banking on the fuel-efficient engines to help meet ever tougher emissions rules that will tighten further early next decade.