Japan has been one of the countries that has presented a tough battle against diesel since the end of the 20th century. Such was the regulation and persecution of these vehicles, that in 2005 only 0.4% of private cars used diesel as fuel, a drastic reduction since in 1990 they represented 20%. Now, the Japanese country wants to trigger purchases so that its diesel mobile park is between 5 and 10% before 2030. In fact, to achieve this it has approved a program of the aid of 1,000 euros off each motor vehicle diesel.

The main reason they argue from the Asian country is that the latest diesel cars are less polluting than many gasoline and are a good bet to reduce emissions. According to the manufacturers, these vehicles consume 25% less than gasoline and emit 15% less CO2. In addition, they consider that diesel engines have managed to reduce their emissions by 84% and fine particle emissions by 91% compared to the levels of 15 years ago.

On the other hand, diesel that has been sold in Japan since 2005 contains only 10 parts per million of sulfur, when in 2001 it was 500 ppm. That is, it is similar to diesel that has been sold in Europe since 2005 for road vehicles.

Thus, the Japanese authorities are beginning to consider these types of vehicles as a good bet to reduce emissions, since they are less polluting than gasoline cars. For this, in addition to financing 1,000 euros of the final price, they have removed several taxes on the purchase of these vehicles and have reduced the circulation rate by 75%. Measures aimed at stopping the population from seeing these vehicles as highly polluting.

Currently, only 2% of the Japanese mobile fleet is made up of diesel vehicles, but the country’s aspiration is to triple or quadruple sales in the next decade in order to reduce harmful gas emissions. Measures very different from those being taken in Europe, where the authorities want to put an end to these types of vehicles.