Diesel in the dock: tough questions, difficult answers

The Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal put diesel engines under greater regulatory scrutiny across the global industry. New studies were rapidly commissioned into real world driving emissions levels, often with worrying results. Last year, the European Commission confirmed that 28 air quality zones in Germany alone exceeded air pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide, one of the harmful pollutants from diesel engines. In a bid to combat this, Germany followed up with a court ruling granting its cities the power to ban diesel vehicles.

Credit rating agency DBRS has been closely watching the impact of diesel scandal and the emerging pollution concerns, various government responses and the subsequent decline in market share. In July this year, it published a report on diesel pollution, looking more closely at