German Car Zone

Ding, ding... Round Two!

Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, has made his populous British city a very unfriendly place for motorists, and his latest plant to increase the city's congestion charge to £25 ($48.72 USD) for all gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing vehicles within the city limits has drawn the ire of Porsche. In a letter delivered to the mayor, the Stuttgart-based automaker gave Livingstone 14 days to reconsider the charge, which it considers too expensive and ineffective at reducing pollution, or else it would take the matter to the courts.

Livingstone apparently checked his mail that day, and has responded with some choice words. Accusing Porsche of imposing unnecessary pollution on Londoners, he basically compares the brand's sports cars to garbage littered on the street.

The reason Porsche is so interested in stopping Livingston's increased congestion charges is that only only two models in its current lineup, the entry-level Boxster and Caymen, are exempt from the current charge of £8 to enter a "congestion zone". Increasing the charge to £25 would no doubt tank Porsche sales in the affluent neighborhoods of London. Unfortunately, Livingstone's congestion charges have been challenged in court before and he's won each time.

Porsche UK, however, has set up a website for anyone who wishes to support its desire for a judicial review of Livingstone's plan. The automaker uses the website to lay out its argument, as well as solicit signatures for an online petition.

It looks like each side has managed to land a decent punch this round, but we're betting this fight is far from over.

[Source: PistonHeads, Forbes]

Ken Livingstone is a hypocrite, lying, racist ----.

Real nice.

I posted nothing but the truth. Ken Livingstone is a major butt.

Is Clarkson going to gun him down?

I don't know Ken or anything about him, and he may just be exactly what you say he is, but this is a public forum with people of all ages looking and reading through the pages. Please have some tact when posting here on German Car Zone, and refrain from using certain vocabulary.