Today the world’s biggest motor show gets underway
in Germany. The Frankfurt Motorshow is the moment many of the world’s
best known car manufacturers get together for a grand display of
vehicles that have been polished so hard it’s a miracle there’s any
paint left on them.
But while the firms exhibiting at the event will be
keen to tell you how fast their cars get from zero to 100 kilometers an
hour, what you’re unlikely to hear is how the car industry is looking
increasingly irrelevant as consumer choices, technology, and government
policies are rapidly forcing the industry to change.
Here are five reasons why.
1. Climate change
While some car firms are keen to brag about how
efficient their petrol and diesel models have become, the reality is the
vehicles they produce now contribute more than 20% of the total CO2
emissions in many countries.
In many countries around the world the electricity
generation sector has started to reduce its carbon footprint, yet road
transport has failed to get its total emissions down. With the need to
tackle climate change becoming more and more urgent, car firms can only
stay stuck in their old ways for so long.
2. Air pollution
In Europe, nearly half a million people die prematurely each year due to air pollution. But in other areas of the world, the situation is even worse.
With public concern about air pollution on the rise, car
firms that remain fixated on making petrol and diesel vehicles look out
of step with what people want.
3. Petrol and diesel bans
The Frankfurt motor show is taking place while some
governments are unveiling plans to ban petrol and diesel vehicles. A
number of car firms have switched on to this, like Volvo who recently
declared that all its new cars will be electric or hybrid from 2019.
Meanwhile, most of the big car firms at the Frankfurt motor
show are still so focused on the internal combustion engine. It really
begs the question - what planet are they on?
4. Dieselgate
It’s been almost two years since Volkswagen was caught
cheating emissions tests and the truth was uncovered about how some
diesel cars were emitting “up to 40 times more pollution" than allowed.
While other car companies, like Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover,
have committed to phasing out diesel and petrol vehicles, VW still has a
long way to go to clean up their act. And now, on the back of the
Dieselgate scandal, even more of Germany’s biggest car firms, like BMW
and Daimler, are under pressure to change.
5. Car sharing
In many European cities, younger generations are already shifting away from owning cars and choosing bicycles and public transport instead.
With more and more of the world’s population moving to cities - a trend that is set continue in years to come
- this could mean an increasing number of people begin to see the idea
of owning their own car as an expensive and cumbersome option in
comparison to car sharing.
This blog is based on a new Greenpeace report: “Why the Automobile Has No Future. A Global Impact Analysis” – download it here.
Richard Casson is a campaigner for Greenpeace UK
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