Matthias Wissmann is the President of the Association of the German Automobile Industry. Shortly before the Frankfurt Motor Show starts he spoke with Club of Pioneers about the new trend of German customers to go for eco-friendly cars. Wissmann asks politicians to lower taxes on cars carrying sustainable technologies.

Matthias Wissmann
Is there a trend toward climate-compatible automobiles in Germany?In the first six months of 2007 Germans purchased 27 percent more vehicles with a CO2 level of less than 130 grams per kilometer from German manufacturers. In contrast importers of foreign cars recorded a decrease of almost two percent. Customers are obviously putting more trust in the environmental competence of German car producers.How do German automobile manufacturers rank in an international comparison?In the competitive vying for environmental competence we don’t have to hide ourselves. Because of Clean Diesel we are in the first rank when it comes to climate-compatible and eco-friendly engines. That’s why the Japanese competitors envy us. Due to hybrid engines we are catching up, and when the fuel cell has been fully developed by 2020, then we’ll have many new possibilities.Is that a fancied development, or can you underline this statement empirically?The numbers speak a clear language: German automobile producers have 47 percent of the market in Western Europe, a 40 percent increment of growth in the first half-year in China, and three percent growth in the USA. The German automotive industry will set a new export record in 2007. We are re-inventing the car. Since German car buyers have a new environmental awareness and are choosing climate-compatible cars, isn’t it about time to reward them by lowering taxes?Tax incentives could definitely advance this development. We need a motor vehicle tax that is based on CO2 emissions as quickly as possible. That would contribute to climate protection and would increase the incentive to purchase a new eco-friendly car. Every gram of CO2 should be taxed; in doing so we could get old high-pollution vehicles off the road. In the future, buyers of low-emission cars should be exempted from motor vehicle taxes for several years. That would be an major incentive. Climate protection has to be profitable for the motorist.

Interview: Alex Goerlach