Autogas back on track in Germany

© auto-gas.netLet's hope German fuel stations are ready for growing numbers of customers, because here they come!

As you may remember us report, LPG car registrations jumped over 20% in Italy between January and June 2017. While this is an outstanding result in its own right, Germany's achievement over the same period is even better. Much better. Specifically, registrations of autogas-powered vehicles in that country rose by an astounding 40% in the first six months of 2017 compared to 2016. That's the breakthrough the local LPG industry has been waiting for.

Interestingly, demand for diesel-fueled cars has diminished on a year-to-date basis from 2016 to 2017 by 9,1%. It seems like Germans have been disenchanted with oil burners, in no small part due to the Dieselgate scandal involving Volkswagen and still unraveling. Furthermore, authorities of German cities are debating introduction of entry bans on diesel cars, pretty much like Paris or Madrid, so no wonder motorists are turning away and drifting towards alternative fuels, with LPG being the most viable and the most widely available of them.

Consumers are following the ongoing discussions on driving bans for diesel vehicles and relying on the low-emission fuel. Autogas cars offer drastically reduced emissions of nitrogen oxide and are an attractive alternative.

DVFG (German LPG Association) chairman Rainer Scharr

Autogas refueling infrastructure is particularly well developed – with over 7000 retail points available across the country (which is more than in neighbouring Poland, where there are currently over 3 million autogas-powered cars in use), Germany is ready for an LPG revolution. Do the figures for the first half of the year mean it has already begun? We'll have to wait and see, but this could be the case!