Würzburg, March 28, 2007
"The German government is preparing an amendment to the labeling ordinance. Older G Cat vehicles are also to be taken into account," explains Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel in the latest issue no. 13 of the industry magazine "kfz-betrieb", which will be published on March 29, 2007. "The aim is to include a further label for older petrol engines in the ordinance. This would enable the federal states and local authorities to differentiate more strongly instead of granting individual exemptions in the case of driving bans."
The treatment of older G Cat petrol engines is one of the main points of criticism of the "sticker regulation": they could be affected by driving bans even though they do not emit any particulate matter. The reason for this is that cars with petrol engines only receive a sticker entitling them to enter an environmental zone if they meet at least the Euro 1 emissions standard. However, this only came into force in 1992. Although G Cat vehicles registered before 1992 meet the comparable US standard, they have not yet been homologated in accordance with the Euro 1 standard. This now threatens to be fatal for their owners. After all, around 4.6 million vehicles are affected, i.e. ten percent of the entire fleet.
In order to protect drivers from the impending driving ban, Gabriel is now stepping up the pace: "The federal government will soon be discussing the details with the federal states and the German Association of Cities. The amended ordinance should come into force as soon as possible." It remains to be seen whether this will be the case before the first low emission zones are set up on July 1, 2007.
"kfz-betrieb" is a trade magazine published by Vogel Auto Medien, Würzburg. The most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2005 and is the official organ of the German Motor Trade (ZDK), the professional lobby for over 40,000 car dealerships and workshops.
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