European car makers are unlikely to meet their voluntary target to cut CO2 emissions significantly over the next decade, Automotive News Europe reported.
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Back in 1998, the European carmakers association, ACEA, pledged to reduce the new car fleet average C02 emissions to 140 grams per kilometre in 2008, a 25% reduction from 1995. It also said it would cut emissions to 120g/km by 2012.
ACEA monitoring figures to be released next month will show that emissions for 2002 were 165g/km – a rise from the 2001 figure of 164g/km.
Carmakers say the growing appetite of consumers for fuel-guzzlers such as sport-utility vehicles is blocking progress.
Cars have also become heavier and less fuel-efficient as more equipment is added to meet safety regulations.
ACEA Chairman Louis Schweitzer, Renault’s CEO, said the 140g/km commitment would be tough to meet and the target for 2012 was not practical.
“We are ahead of our reduction plan, but the easy part is behind us,” he said.
Schweitzer said the unexpected surge in demand for diesel cars since the late 1990s made it easier for European carmakers to meet their CO2 targets in the first three years of the voluntary accord.
That’s because diesel cars use less fuel per kilometre than those using petrol, automatically reducing CO2 emissions.
PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, a world leader in diesel technology, is likely to be the only European car maker that meets the 2008 target.
Other carmakers say the cost of implementing technologies to cut fuel emissions is too high at a time when they are facing low sales and strong competition from Asian imports.
Schweitzer will voice the industry’s concerns to EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem at a meeting in Brussels on November 25.
An EU official said backtracking on CO2 emissions is not an option for European carmakers.
He ruled out sanctions against manufacturers and said the EU may encourage national governments to offer tax incentives to persuade customers to buy greener cars.
Scientists generally believe carbon dioxide emissions are a major cause of global warming. Cutting CO2 emissions from vehicles will help the EU meet commitments it made in the 1997 Kyoto environmental agreement, Automotive News Europe said.
