Toyota ends cooperation with German environmental group DUH

A 2019 Toyota Corolla Hybrid is shown during the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, in Los Angeles. [Photo:AP]

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota is ending its long-standing cooperation with German environmental group Environmental Action Germany (DUH), a Toyota spokesperson announced on Tuesday.

The spokesman added that Toyota had worked together with DUH on a car project, namely hybrid taxis in which a "low five-digit figure" was contributed by the car manufacturer. This project would be coming to an end now. DUH also confirmed the end of the cooperation.

DUH recently achieved fame in Germany for suing several major German cities in the wake of a landmark court ruling which paved the way for driving bans of diesel vehicles. Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Frankfurt have since all been ordered to partially or fully ban older diesel vehicles from their streets in order to meet EU targets for air quality.

Prior to the cancelation of the cooperation, the collaboration between DUH and Toyota had been criticized in Germany, because DUH supported the compliance with nitrogen limits and driving bans for diesel vehicles in German cities by which Toyota would have been less affected than the German car industry.

A Toyota spokesperson clarified that the decision to end the cooperation would have nothing to do with the current criticism against the DUH by politicians and the German car industry.