German Economy Suffering Huge Losses Amid Diesel Scandal

The extent of the negative impact is being assessed amid a growing number of German carmakers implicated.

The German economy has to bear huge losses amid the diesel scandal, Eric Schweitzer, head of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), said.

According to the DIHK's estimations, the costs amount to more than half a billion euros.

"The diesel affair and driving bans have unsettled large parts of the German economy," Schweitzer said in an interview with Rheinische Post.

In his opinion, not only the automotive industry has been affected by the ongoing scandal. It is also having a negative impact on many medium-sized companies and small businesses, he argued.

According to Schweizer, it is necessary to urgently conduct a full investigation into violations in this area in order to restore confidence in the German diesel car market.

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In late May it was reported that the luxury car-maker Mercedes-Benz faces allegations of cheating on emissions metrics for its C-Class and G-Class models. This brought the company to the center of the diesel emissions scandal, which had previously been linked mainly with Volkswagen and BMW.

The scandal around the use of emissions cheating software erupted in Germany in 2015 when it turned out that Volkswagen could have falsified emissions test results for its diesel-engine cars.

The issue resurfaced in July, when media reported that leading German automakers had coordinated their actions on matters such as designing diesel emissions treatment systems in diesel vehicles.