The motor industry needs to invest in educating used car buyers about the differences between “good” and “bad” diesels when it comes to emissions, says the Vehicle Remarketing Association.
At last week’s meeting of the trade organisation – which represents companies that are involved in remarketing more than 1.5 million vehicles every year – there was a detailed discussion of the topic including presentations from the National Franchise Dealer Association and CAP-HPI.
Glenn Sturley, chair at the VRA, said, “It is rapidly becoming obvious that there are a lot of misconceptions circulating among used car buyers about diesel, often prompted by some poorly researched journalism in the national press.
“We are in a situation where some consumers are starting to identify diesel as undesirable from an air quality and emissions point of view, and starting to avoid them. Evidence shows that most are switching to petrol, which has its own emissions issues.
“As anyone working in the industry knows, this is a trend that makes little sense. Newer diesels are some of the cleanest cars available, especially in real world terms, and stigmatising them could actually hamper general efforts to improve air quality.”
What was needed, Glenn said, was a concerted effort to explain to buyers the improvements that had been made in diesels over recent years.