Profits, doubts in equal measure at Geneva Motor Show

"Geneva really ought to have been a lovely salon," says,

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with heavy irony, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of German-based Center Automotive Research of a Europe's first major car show of the year running from March 8 to 18.

"The luxury car makers continue to present their new models and worldwide sales set new records in 2017.

"But behind the glamour and the finery are plenty of worry wrinkles."

Number one overriding concern is the increasing slide in diesel sales, a blow for European constructors who had essentially sought to bet the house on diesel as they strove for years to cut CO2 emissions with the support of public authorities.

The emissions cheating scandal, which blew up at Volkswagen in 2015, has heaped discredit on a technology criticised for belching out nitrogen oxide and harmful particulates.

Major cities including Paris have announced their intention to ban diesel progressively while a top German court last month opened the way to banning older diesel cars from the streets on air quality grounds.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-03-profits-equal-geneva-motor.html#jCp