• T&E survey makes case against weight standards

    The latest T&E survey of maker-by-maker carbon dioxide reductions from new cars makes a strong case for avoiding weight-based future standards.

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    [mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]The survey was published last month and is based on official EU monitoring data obtained by T&E under laws granting access to official documents.

    In sporting terms, Peugeot-Citroën has jumped ahead of Fiat at the top of the league for car companies reducing CO2 emissions from new models in 2006, but the differences between the French and Italian makers are slim. Peugeot-Citroën improved its average emissions from 146 grams per kilometre to 142, while Fiat’s improved from 145 to 144.

    Of greater significance is that French, Italian and Japanese makers extended their lead over German rivals. In 2006 German makers increased CO2 emissions overall: while BMW reduced its average by 2.5% from 188 to 184 g/km, Volkswagen’s went up by 0.9% to 166 and DaimlerChrysler’s by 2.8% to 188 g/km.

    T&E director Jos Dings said: ‘It is ironic that the country that did so much to get a European consensus on new climate targets earlier this year is also home to the car makers that are holding back progress on one of the most important ways of achieving them.

    ‘Germany’s fine automotive engineers should be focusing on making cars leaner and more fuel-efficient. Sadly, they mostly seem intent on building ever heavier, larger and more gas guzzling cars that just don’t belong in the 21st century.’

    Encouraged by its car industry, the German government is currently involved in a powerful lobbying effort to get the next round of CO2 standards – which for the first time will be obligatory – differentiated according to the weight of a vehicle. Under such a differen- tiation, the heavier a vehicle is, the less stringent its CO2 standard would be.

    But T&E says its latest survey shows that a weight-based system would remove the incentive for CO2 reductions. The companies that did best in reducing emissions cut their average weight, while those that did worst produced heavier vehicles.

    Dings added: ‘Our figures show that the failure to cut the weight of cars is one of the main reasons why CO2 emissions and fuel consumption are not going down. Basing CO2 limits on weight punishes lighter vehicles with tougher standards. If the EU wants different limits for different types of car, it should opt for smarter ‘footprint’-based standards.’

    T&E’s study covered companies selling 200 000 or more vehicles in Europe in 2006.

    This news story is taken from the December 2007 edition of T&E Bulletin.