Sprinkle
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Eva Doesborgh
publisher Nieuwsuur
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Eva Doesborgh
publisher Nieuwsuur
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The diesel car, which is partly due to the cheat scandal it has been sold less and less in recent years, making it even less attractive to car buyers. However, for the time being, the diesel box will not completely disappear from showrooms, experts expect.
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For consumers, driving a diesel is no longer interesting.
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The increase in the price of diesel is mainly due to the fact that most of the fuel was obtained from Russia. European sanctions require importers to look for other suppliers because of the war. Russia’s share in European diesel imports has already dropped from 60 to 44 percent in the past two months.
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So companies are now getting more diesel from other countries, including the Middle East, but that only pushes the price of diesel further up. “We are receiving an increasing supply through supply lines that do not yet exist. This is logistically more difficult to achieve, which means we also have to pay more,” says Erik Klooster, director of the Dutch Petroleum Industry Association.
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In early December, the EU wants to get rid of all Russian crude oil, making us even more dependent on other suppliers and the price of diesel could rise further. This while diesel has been around twenty cents per liter less for years.
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No more benefits
Automotive reporter Wim Oude Weernink defines the alarming increase: “Low prices were originally the attraction. The price of fuel was much lower and the road tax was higher to compensate for this. If you drove many kilometers a year, you could do a good balance, because the diesel has a more economical engine on balance “.
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Due to high diesel prices, this advantage is disappearing and a diesel car is no longer very attractive. There has already been a significant decline in the sale of diesel passenger cars in recent years.
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After 2015, the year of the diesel scandal, sales of diesel cars dropped dramatically:
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News time / Tycho van der Klip
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Car salesman Sjoerd van der Beek has also seen the diesel engine disappear from his showroom in recent years. According to him, the diesel scandal played a part in this. In 2015, it was revealed that automaker Volkswagen was tampering with software to make diesel cars look much cleaner and more fuel-efficient than they actually are. “This has damaged the image of the diesel,” says Van der Beek.
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According to him, the diesels he has sold since 2018 met all European requirements. However, in recent years the bad image has partly led consumers and corporate drivers to prefer electric and hybrid motorcycles.
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Vans and campers
But for many entrepreneurs there is no alternative to the diesel tank. Because almost all commercial vehicles run on diesel.
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And that will remain for the time being, says commercial vehicle consultant Bernhard Koster. “Alternative fuels, like electric, are coming up a bit, but the limits are so big that it’s not interesting yet.” Company cars usually cover large distances, which means electric cars are often not profitable due to their much shorter range.
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For this reason, even entrepreneur Gert Kanis sees no other option than diesel. He delivers event carpet rolls and artificial turf and has to travel many kilometers every day. “If you are going to drive electrically, you have to adapt your whole day schedule accordingly, because you waste time charging the cars. This means you can deliver to fewer addresses a day and transport becomes more expensive again.”
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An electric car with a caravan is always at the charging station.
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For RV enthusiasts, diesel remains the only option for the moment. The work of diesel technician Martin Kleinjan will therefore not disappear. “Due to the high fuel prices, a motorhome holiday has become much more expensive, but we see our customers continue to stick with the trusty diesel motorhome,” he says.
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“If you go on vacation with an electric car with a much shorter range and a caravan in the back, you are always at the charging station. Then you would rather pay a little more.” Kleinjan does not see the future of the diesel car bright: “This is a dead end”.
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Car salesman Van der Beek agrees. “Now that both the road tax and the price per liter are more expensive, it is no longer interesting to drive a diesel as a consumer.”
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