The latest Mercedes-Benz advert on the Bebelplatz in Berlin was transformed at the end of last month from luxury car to climate pig when Greenpeace climbers unveiled their version, complete with pink snout and piggy ears. Greenpeace is calling on the carmaker to make use of the technology at their fingertips and build smaller and lighter vehicles across their entire fleet and not keep making these oversized beasts that fly in the face of climate change and what people really want to buy. (More here in German.)

"The new SUV from Mercedes is an oversized gas-guzzler - they've created a climate pig on wheels, "according to Marc Specowius, cars campaigner from Greenpeace Germany. "Car buyers don't want gas guzzlers any more. So they're not only endangering the climate, they're also a threat to jobs in the German car industry."

The sale of luxury cars from German carmakers has plummeted in the past few months.

Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has announced new measures that would make gas-guzzling cars like the brand new GLK exempt from vehicle tax for the next two years. The new GLK weighs up to 1.8 tonnes and has CO2 emission levels of 245g per kilometre.

I can’t help wondering how giving tax breaks to cars with almost double the proposed emissions targets is going to help tackle climate change. It looks more like a way of propping up the car industry to me.

Encouraging people to buy gas-guzzling cars is not a way to help them out financially either, when you remember that long after the carmaker has cashed in his cheque the car owner will be paying the price at the petrol pumps.

Meanwhile in the EU talks, the news is that the Parliament aren't willing to budge on the phase-in - they want the targets (130g per km) to take effect, in full by 2012. And they want to see a 2020 target of 95g.

It looks like Mercedes Benz has got 4 years to shift down a gear or two its CO2 emissions.