Other than between 90 and 150 euros of extra price difference per car, that is the range estimated by the European Commission with the entry into force of the Euro 7 anti-pollution standard. In an interview with Autocar, Thomas Schäfer, the CEO of the brand Volkswagen with responsibility for all the group’s volume brands, has spoken of price increases of up to 5,000 pounds (5,800 euros). Even eliminating the figures from some legitimate partisan interests (community bodies downwards, manufacturers upwards), these are irreconcilable sums.
And, above all, if Schäfer were right it would mean the almost probable exit from the price list of some models still offered at sustainable prices. The “small” Polo is among those at risk: the manager specified that the group’s engineers are carrying out the appropriate analyzes and within ten days Volkswagen will be able to tell if some cars will become so expensive that they will no longer be profitable.
In Berlin, at the end of October, when presenting the balance of his first 100 days at the helm of Volkswagen, Schäfer appeared optimistic about the decisions that would be taken at the continental level: “It makes no sense to burn a technology that will still accompany us for a few more years. I hope there are no forcings, not only with regard to emissions. It would be counterproductive to make it unreachable,” he said. The manager went over the story of the new and tormented 2025 deadline which for cars and vans imposes a 35% reduction in NOx and 13% for particulate matter and 27% for braking systems (Audi had already anticipated the times by experimenting with a specific system) with an identical limit set at 60 mg/km for nitrogen oxides, irrespective of fuel type.
