Porsche officially starts legal process against London's congestion charge
We've already seen Porsche make its case for an exemption from EU emissions rules. With the new, higher congestion charge announce the other day for London, it's no surprise that Porsche is fighting back there, too. It's just hard to be a car company that makes cars that spew CO2 like it's going out of style.Today, the upper-end automaker (that's upper end of the price and the emissions scales) announced that it will start a "judicial review process" against the Mayor of London and the Transport for London group (the city organization that imposed the charge) over what it calls the "unjust 3000% congestion charge increase."
Officially, Porsche will write a letter to mayor Ken Livingstone this week, and the mayor's office will have 14 days to respond. Based on the mayor's reply, Porsche could apply to the Royal Courts of Justice to plead its case that charging drivers of dirty cars £25 to enter the city is "completely unfair."
Details in the Porsche release after the jump.
Related:
- Congestion charge up for gas guzzlers: 25 quid for a ride in Central London
- Toyota Aygo, Yaris and Prius exempt from revised London Congestion Charge
- Electric vehicle drivers get some not-so-good news in London
Porsche announces intention to start judicial review process against Mayor and Transport for London over unjust 3000% congestion charge increase
Porsche Cars Great Britain has announced its intention to make an application for judicial review of the proposed extension in the London congestion charge, which will see the cost of driving some cars in the capital rise from £8.00 a day, or just 80p if they are residents in the congestion zone, to £25.00 a day.
Porsche believes the proposed increase in the congestion charge for Band G cars is unfair, that the increase – 3025% for Central London residents - is 'disproportionate' and that it will do nothing to achieve the stated aim of decreasing emissions in central London.
Commenting on the Porsche action, Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche Cars GB, said, "A massive congestion charge increase is quite simply unjust. Thousands of car owners driving a huge range of cars will be hit by a disproportionate tax which is clear will have a very limited effect on CO2 emissions."
Porsche will be writing to the Mayor this week. The Mayor will then have 14 days to respond to Porsche. If the Mayor fails to respond to Porsche's letter or refuses to reconsider his plans, Porsche intends formally to submit its application for judicial review at the Royal Courts of Justice summary of the judicial review process is given in a separate document to accompany this release).
Mr Goss added, "Not only is this rise completely unfair to many drivers, but it will also damage London based-businesses of all sizes, and successful people from across the world will start to think twice about basing themselves here if they think they are going to be used as cash cows for City Hall. The proposed increase will be bad for London as a whole and will send out the signal that it is not serious about establishing itself as the best place in the world to do business."
[Source: Porsche]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
why not the LS2/LS7? 12:07PM (2/19/2008)
Completely unfair?
It doesn't single out Porsche, it singles out companies that make highly polluting (including primary emissions) vehicles, essentially "Chelsea tractors" (SUVs).
I'm not British, but I don't know that anywhere in the British law there is a "right to make polluting cars" regulation.
Porsche can easily avoid this problem by making cars that don't emit so much CO2. Yes, that means make them slower. That or give up on the London market (except for people who are so right they don't care about the fees).
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David Mustoe 12:41PM (2/19/2008)
Keep in mind, much of the auto industry operate much like the tobacco industry. Their objective is to make money even at the expense of your quality of life. And like the tobacco industry, they can be beat by people with facts and a desire for better health.
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 8:04PM (2/19/2008)
Porsche should be closed down.
All European manufacturers signed an agreement in 1998 to bring their averages down to 140 g CO2/km by 2008. Something, despite all the winging, the French and Italians basically already did by 2006. The EU is also signatory to Kyoto and has a legal obligation to reduce CO2. To say nothing of the ethics - since when should you be poisoned (in more ways than one) THREE times more than these cars:
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/information/how-to-use-the-data-tables.asp#petrol
simply to own a Porsche....? It's absurd that Porsche be poisoning our cities like this AND that they sue the EU for it as well...
Close down Porsche !
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 9:05PM (2/19/2008)
"upper end of the price and the emissions scales"
I'm glad that Sebastian clarified this. It's very annoying to see people (mainly German it would seem, judging by their English) write that the German automakers are "high-performance". "performance", when talking about cars is not some subjective or pseudo random term. It's not like "intelligence" or "beauty" or other such words.....
When talking about car performance we are talking about fuel-efficiency, horse power, safety rating (euroncap in Europe), emissions, etc., when compared to the price of the vehicle. There are also other factors, but these are already secondary performance parameters....
German cars are easily the most expensive. They are also the lowest in performance as well (not your ideal combination).
And the Germans don't only make big cars. Why is it, that despite costing mare than any other car in their category, in this list:
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/information/how-to-use-the-data-tables.asp#petrol
there is no Audi A1. Class-A or VW Polo (or Golf for that matter, as Golf-sized cars now do 120 g CO2/km).... Why is that if I visit www.euroncap.com, this story repeats itself over and over ???
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 9:07PM (2/19/2008)
oops... I meant A2
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 9:20PM (2/19/2008)
only yesterday 19000 Porsche Cayenne SUVs were recalled globally to fix a faulty engine fuel conduit.....
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/02/19/afx4667630.html
ridiciluous, simply ridiculous
For such prices, vehicles should be zero-emission, and obviously of a better build quality.....
I can't wait to see the City of London tell them to piss off (through the courts, of course...).....
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texmln 12:45AM (2/20/2008)
People who drive Porsches in London are not poor. They're also not stupid. If London can't support the kind of lifestyle Porsche driving rich people enjoy they won't quit driving the cars - they'll move. When they move they'll take their businesses with them. They'll also take their disposable income. When those go pretty soon it will be YOUR job and YOUR disposable income that disappear. And then you can enjoy the slightly cleaner air in London all day long, because you won't have a job to go to.
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 1:21AM (2/20/2008)
Porsche drivers certainly aren't poor. As to "stupid" (or "intelligence" as pointed out above), this is far more subjective, as it depends on your perception of "intelligence". For me these are people stupid in the extreme, and with the current environmental, health and congestion problems they are giving others (both users of public transport and of efficient, inexpensive vehicles) it seems mine is not an uncommon view.
London isn't being ridiculed or criticized (except by the like of Porsche). It is being copied. Singapore, Stockholm and Milan all have such systems. And where it has been adopted the system arouses enormous interest in other cities. We are talking about an exponential effect here. Compounded by the latest petrol price record and the latest environmental news.
I don't see companies leaving either. If anything companies will be getting some sort of break for encouraging car-pooling, giving out parking spaces to low-polluters as a priority, installing charging stations, etc.... A more efficient and cleaner transport system can only be good for business....
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 1:44AM (2/20/2008)
they obviously won't move at all, and the optimal environment can only create more jobs...
if they were to move it certainly won't be in Europe (to the US perhaps) as everyone is studying their own LCC system. Some have adopted such systems already and observed extremely positive results after the first month of operation?
Why then do people make such false claims when the positive effects are all too well documented? There are enormous interests at stake. Specifically, the Germans have been doing nothing for well over a decade in this area and now they are very far behind the French and Italians:
http://www.transportenvironment.org/docs/Publications/2007/2007-11_car_company_co2_report.pdf
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/information/how-to-use-the-data-tables.asp#petrol
Thus the German car lobbyists have been forking out like crazy to sway this tide, at least in the EU. Now there are these legal actions as well (EU, LCC). But these are only very desperate attempts and they can only lose.
Europe has been setting out car emission (euro) standards for many years. These have always been absolute figures that don't depend on the car weight (you have one passenger per car anyway, so this is illogical). The Germans are trying everything from CO2/kg to CO2/kW but it's a lost cause. Even if they were to pay through the nose and win in Bruxelles, well Bruxelles is just Bruxelles.
The EU countries themselves are not buying it. 120 g CO2/km is the target in the UK as it is in Spain. France and Italy base their taxes and fees now on CO2 as well (independently of car weight).
The only exception to this argument is Germany. The only thing done in German cities is to say if you don't have a DPF you can't enter the city. Not only are you free to enter cities with a Cayenne if you have a DPF, but you won't be charged anything either. A Euro5 compliant compact car without a DPF and with a third the emissions of the Cayenne, is NOT allowed in German cities.
Basically the Germans are pushing real hard to maintain the status quo. It's useless. This can't be sustained anymore and they should have gotten off their backsides over a decade ago. These are very expensive cars that by logic should be extremely green......
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