Emissions in Germany’s transport sector have remained practically unchanged since 1990, as efficiency gains in engine technology were largely offset by a trend towards heavier and more fuel-intensive cars. The German government plans to bring millions of electric cars on the road over the next decade in order to improve the sector’s contribution to national climate targets and supports purchases of e-cars with a buyer’s premium and a scheme to install one million public charging points across the country by 2030, according to Clean Energy Wire.

However, the boom of SUVs continues unabated in Germany, topping one million newly registered vehicles in a single year for the first time in 2019, Philipp Vetter writes for the Welt Online. The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) at the University of Duisburg-Essen estimates that 1.09 million new SUVs will have been registered in the country by the end of the year, meaning the usually heavy vehicle type that many scorn for its inefficiency and comparatively high carbon footprint will reach a share of about one third of all new cars registered in Germany.