Car group slams Minister’s ‘don’t buy a diesel’ comments

Comments by the Environment Minister about the folly of buying a diesel car, due to a predicted low resale value, have been pounced on by the PSA vehicle manufacturing group, saying the statement has caused, “uncertainty and alarm among customers.”

In an interview published Monday in the Jornal de Negócios newspaper, minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes said that it is, “very evident that anyone who buys a diesel car, in four or five years it’s not going to have much resale value.”

The PSA group, that includes Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel-Vauxhall, responded by stating that, “not distinguishing current generations of diesel and petrol engines from previous generations means not taking into account the real problem of emissions in the automobile sector, which is the age of cars in Portugal, which continues to lengthen from an average of almost 13 years.”

“Recent statements made in Portugal about the future of diesel vehicles create uncertainty, alarm and confusion among customers. They do not correspond to European Union regulations, which aim to reduce the emissions of diesel vehicles destined for the European market,” according to the PSA Group statement.

“In addition, cars that are more than 20 years old are coming to scrap yards,” said the company, which asked the government, “not to discriminate against the latest generation of diesel or gasoline vehicles, which are needed to meet the CO2 targets defined by the European Commission.”

Several associations in the vehicle sector already have criticised the minister, with the environmental association, ZERO, praising his stance.

See: ‘Makes no sense to buy a diesel’ says Environment Minister