BERLIN (Reuters) - More than 600,000 jobs could be at risk in Germany by 2030 from a potential ban on combustion engine cars, the Ifo economic institute said in a study on Tuesday.
A switch to sales of zero-emission cars would threaten 436,000 car manufacturing jobs, with the rest coming from related industries, such as suppliers, Ifo said in the study commissioned by the VDA auto industry association.
The VDA, representing carmakers such as Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p), Daimler (DE:DAIGn) and BMW (DE:BMWG), is in discussions with the government on a plan to reduce pollution from older diesel cars that the industry hopes will avert complete bans on diesel engines in certain German cities.
Many German cities, including Munich and Stuttgart, have considered banning some diesel vehicles, blaming emissions for causing increased respiratory disease.
Pollution from diesel engines has become a sensitive subject since VW's emissions tests cheating scandal broke in September 2015.
"It is important that climate policy proceeds in a neutral fashion by setting climate protection goals without prescribing the technologies that have to be used to achieve them," Ifo president Clemens Fuest said at a news conference.
Representatives from Germany's federal government, states where carmakers are headquartered and automakers will meet on Aug. 2 to find ways to curb pollution from diesels.