Climate showdown at Frankfurt car fair

A long article from Clean Energy Wire, so I'll just show a few snippets.  But it makes interesting reading in full.

This year's Frankfurt Motor Show steals the limelight for unusual reasons. Thousands of people will flock to the bi-annual industry fair – but many of them not to admire horsepower-proud vehicles, but instead to call for their abolishment. In a series of climate protests, demonstrators will highlight an inconvenient truth: Germany’s world famous carmakers are betting heavily on their polluting SUVs in order to finance tomorrow's clean alternatives. The pending clash at the key marketing event strikes BMW, Daimler and VW at a delicate time. Against the backdrop of a slowing economy, VW will unveil its first purpose-built electric model, a bid to create a new industry standard, while new Daimler and BMW CEOs may reveal highly anticipated further detail on their clean mobility strategy.

Energised by the impact of the Fridays for Future student movement, climate activists plan to descend to Frankfurt in droves, demanding a fundamental overhaul of current mobility policies and radical change at the carmakers. Supported by environmental NGOs Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), and others, protesters will call for an immediate phase-out of combustion engines, climate-neutral mobility by 2035, lower speed limits and priority for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport during a mass bicycle ride and a protest march. They also demand "efficient electro mobility instead of big electric SUVs," a jab at the new purpose-built electric vehicles from German carmakers, the Mercedes EQC, and the Audi e-tron, both weighing 2.5 tons even when they're empty.

Whereas previous protests often targeted climate-damaging SUVs or local transport policies, the broad attack on the entire car industry takes the demonstrations to a "new level," according to sociologist Simon Teune, who heads the Berlin Institute for Protest and Social Movement Studies (ipb). He told the newspaper tageszeitung that the protests could have a real impact in the medium term, because they will catapult the message into the media that the car industry has blocked climate policies and missed the boat on electric mobility - foiling the show's purpose to highlight industry achievements.

The IAA protests will no doubt call attention to the elephant in the room: Desperate for cash to finance the shift to green mobility, the carmakers bet on particularly climate-damaging SUVs, because these offer the highest profits. The contradiction is as obvious as it is hard to resolve, given that new clean mobility businesses are still far from being a money-spinner.

"For us, SUVs are certainly the models with the highest margins, and in view of the uncertainties surrounding the switch to electric mobility, it would be economically irresponsible to say that we are leaving this lucrative business to our competitors" argues VW. "The SUV offensive plays a crucial role in strengthening the core business and thus enabling Volkswagen to make the necessary investments in new technologies, sustainable mobility solutions and electromobility," the company told the Clean Energy Wire, adding that "the latest generation of SUVs is just as efficient in terms of fuel consumption as comparable vehicles in the respective compact or saloon classes." BMW only said it "offers vehicles in all segments with client demand," while Daimler ignored a question regarding SUV sales.

To the outrage of environmental activists, Mercedes is launching what they decry as the "monster SUV" GLS, which will top the short-term record holder BMW X7 as Germany's largest SUV. "Since the Mercedes GLS is too wide for car washes, it bends its wheels inwards. These are the absurd 'innovations' of which German carmakers are so proud," says NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH), a vocal industry critic which set the ball rolling on diesel driving bans. These have been implemented in parts of some German cities - and may be rolled out in others - to get excessive pollution under control, constituting another headache for the industry.

Source: Clean Energy Wire