Würzburg/Germany, 23 March 2007

The current public debate on CO2 emissions on our roads ought to be giving vehicle manufacturers the perfect opportunity from a timing point of view to advertise the vehicles they produce which run on natural gas. And yet these hardly get a mention in the ongoing debate. Manufacturers almost seem to be shielding their “champions of a clean environment” from too much publicity. In the latest edition (no. 12) of our specialist magazine, »kfz-betrieb« (a weekly journal and website) you will find an in-depth article throwing light on this particular market segment.

So far, there are 55,000 vehicles on German roads which run on natural gas – as opposed to some 100,000, which is what the gas industry was hoping for in its forecasts ten years ago. As our magazine reports, in the meantime there is certainly a sufficient spread of natural gas stations – currently 730 in Germany – to be able to cater to such numbers. The low level of commitment shown by vehicle manufacturers could, however, have consequences for gas suppliers and cause them to make reductions in their natural gas station business activities in the near future … because these gas stations have so far been reliant upon major subsidies to be able to operate.

The magazine goes on to say that if we compare actual performance out on the roads, driving a car with a natural-gas engine is in fact more likely to reduce levels of environmentally harmful CO2 emissions than driving a hybrid vehicle whose advantages are to be found in city traffic scenarios. If she had realised that, perhaps Germany’s former minister of consumer affairs, Renate Künast (Bündnis 90/the Green Party) would not have called upon the German people to buy hybrid makes of car from Toyota, but instead would have prompted them to go for German cars or Fiats with natural-gas engines.

»kfz-betrieb« is published by Vogel Auto Media, Würzburg/Germany and is the most widely read specialist magazine in the German car trade, celebrating its 95th anniversary in 2005 and fulfilling the role of official publication of the German vehicle trade association (ZDK), which represents the interests of over 40,000 car dealer businesses and repair garages.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact:

Edgar Schmidt

Head of Training and Further Training

Editorial office of »kfz-betrieb« – weekly journal and website

Vogel Auto Medien

97064 Würzburg

Germany

Tel. +49 (0)931 418-28 19

Fax +49 (0)931 418-27 80

Email: edgar_schmidt@vogel-automedien.de