Porsche Takes On London and WINS

Last year, the then Mayor of London proposed a £25-a-day congestion charge for drivers of higher polluting cars that enter central London. This is a jump from the £8-a-day charge already in place. Porsche immediately took opposition to the new tax—not because they hate trees, but because almost every car they produce would now be hit with the much stiffer fine.

Porsche took legal action to save their customer’s historically large wallets. The London court has now sided with the German carmaker and has killed the plans for the increase. Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche Cars Great Britain, was never worried about the outcome, “We were always confident that our legal case was right and that we would win in the end.” Porsche was also awarded its legal fees in the judgment, which they will donate to a charity for teaching mechanical skills to disadvantage youths.

The congestion charge was introduced to London in 2003, in an effort to relieve London’s notorious traffic. The tax never turned central London into an automotive ghost town, but it did change the traffic situation from abysmal to merely bad.