Is this the end of diesel cars?

A court in Leipzig, Germany, has today (27th February 2018) ruled that German cities will be permitted to ban diesel vehicles.  The ban will likely only affect the most heavily polluting vehicles and won't happen overnight, 2025 being a year mentioned, but even that is just seven years away, well within the sort of time period that'll make current diesel owners nervous and potential new buyers a whole lot more interested in petrol or, hopefully, electric vehicles.

Although this is just Germany, and no bans yet exist, it's not hard to see the writing on the wall for diesels all over Europe and other parts of the world.  VWs "dieselgate" was followed by report after report finding new problems with these engines at a time when even without such reports, the rise of EV model availability would have been worrying to diesel builders, so it's hard to see how things can get any better following this ruling.

For buyers, it's an interesting time.  I took my Mercedes (petrol) in for a service last week and spent some time browsing the forecourt looking for EV or hybrid models.  I didn't find any, but what I did see was that all but two of the 30 or so cars visible were diesels.  It's hard to imagine that this is a result of demand, given the news over the past year or so, it seems much more likely this is Mercedes desperately trying to shift diesel stock.  So, if you're not worried about a ban, I'd expect to see some substantial deals available very soon.

For owners, it's an interesting time, but more in the sense of the old Chinese curse.  If you currently drive a diesel, especially if you live and/or work in a major European city, this ruling may well feel like unwelcome news from your doctor.  It will, of course, be especially galling to those that were encouraged to buy diesels by their government when not so long ago we were told they were better for the environment.  It'll be interesting to see what happens to the second-hand (sorry, "pre-owned") market after today.

Of course, as with all such news, we're really not looking at diesel cars vanishing from our streets by this time next Wednesday, they'll still be pumping out their particulates all over our countries for at least a couple of decades, but that writing on the wall has just got quite a lot bigger, and even the most ardent diesel fan must be starting to wonder...