The German government, the traffic minister in particular, are disgracefully downplaying the problem and working hard to water down any new regulations to the p

The German government, the traffic minister in particular, are disgracefully downplaying the problem and working hard to water down any new regulations to the point where they don't threaten the status quo. However, cities may well reverse the government's efforts, because they have a duty to limit the (real, measured) inner city pollution. So cheating on the dyno won't help car makers. The downside is that the cities' only regulatory approach is more heavy-handed: things like banning all diesel vehicles on particularly bad days, etc. But it might sour diesels for citizens, so all the lobbying efforts may well have been for naught.