A new report from the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) shows that car manufacturers are currently falling (on average) 17% short of the 2012 emission levels set by the European Commission.
The current target, which was amended last year after pressure from car manufacturers, requires that CO2 emissions of cars sold in Europe are no more than 130g/km, taken as an average across a car manufacturer’s fleet.
The report is based on an analysis of 2007 EU monitoring data, and shows that while progress towards the target has generally been in the right direction – manufacturers have averaged a 1.7% cut in emissions – the rate of development is not sufficient for the auto industry to achieve the required reductions by 2012.
The scope of the report extends to manufacturers selling over 200,000 cars annually in Europe. BMW were the company found to have made the greatest progress, cutting average CO2 emissions across its fleet from 184g/km (2006) to 170g/km, a reduction of 7.3%. Their success is attributed to improvements in fuel efficiency across their range resulting from their `Efficient Dynamics` programme, which utilises regenerative braking, stop-start technology and other fuel saving measures.
Japanese manufacturers were shown to have made the least progress; Honda, while having a relatively low average level of emissions in 2006 (154g CO2/km), in fact saw an increase of 1% during 2007. Nissan, Mazda and Suzuki are among the four manufacturers with the largest gap to make up before 2012, requiring cuts of 22%, 24%, and 25% respectively. The T&E figures show French manufacturer Peugeot-Citroën as the closest to reaching its proposed levels but still falling 10% short, closely followed by Renault and Italy’s Fiat.
While the European Commission has published a legal proposal to regulate the fuel-efficiency and C02 emissions of new cars, it must receive the approval of European Parliament and Member State governments before becoming law. This process is expected to conclude early in 2009, which will mean that should manufacturers not meet the agreed targets by 2012, they will be subject to fines ranging from €25-€90 per vehicle sold.
Jos Dings, Director of T&E, said: “With the threat of legislation looming, BMW has shown that even premium carmakers can seriously reduce CO2. But the slow response of most carmakers shows that the EU needs to keep up the pressure with challenging long-term CO2 targets,”
The lobby group T&E proposes new CO2 limits of 80 g/km by 2020, and 60g/km by 2025, which would keep the car manufacturing sector in line with scenarios for total CO2 emissions reductions within the EU.
[WahtGreenCar]
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