Jason MoorePalma18/02/2018 00:00
TW
4

I suspect that the Balearic government may have bitten off more than it can chew with its plans to phase out diesel powered vehicles in seven years time. Nice idea, just not practical, is what the motor industry is saying. And the industry could be right. Vehicle dealerships are already saying that the new legislation may break European Union laws. As I understand it, the EU gives vehicles a clean bill of health and ensures that the vehicles in question meet all the necessary regulations: in other words a standard model for all European Union states. And then the good old Balearic government comes along and wants change: no diesel cars even though Brussels hasn’t given the idea its backing. Also, who in their right mind is going to nip into their local vehicle dealership and buy a diesel car when they know that from 2025 it will be almost worthless in the Balearics?

The government says that it will only be new cars and existing models which can continue, but the writing is on the wall for them. The Balearic diesel car fleet will decline dramatically and the price of these diesel vehicles will suffer the same fate. Electric cars are not cheap either. So, back to the drawing board please and quick.

This was always going to be a headline-grabbing plan but unfortunately I think that it could do more damage than good. The Balearic government should have got together with the motor industry first and then studied the necessary implications. I am afraid to say that it is a plan which is going nowhere and it will easily get stuck in the traffic of complaints.