As other cities in the UK and around Europe follow London’s lead in levying green charges, car makers at the Geneva motor show called for clearer and common policies.
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Charges are being applied in different ways, on CO2 emissions, as in London, engine size, while the French government provides cash-back incentives on smaller, lower emitting cars and levies penalties on larger engines.
Paul Everitt, the new chief executive of the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “The auto industry has been producing lower emitting vehicles for the past decade but there is lack of appreciation of this.
“Vehicles are now more efficient and safer but this does not seem to be fully understood and what we are getting is a mish-mash of legislation which does not help manufacturers in terms of how they need to develop technology and it doesn’t help consumers in terms of what vehicle they buy.”
Bentley, which has announced plans to have all its cars able to run on bio-fuels within the next four years, is concerned that it will still be penalised on exhaust emissions. Sales and marketing chief Stuart McCullough pointed out that although biofuel emits CO2, unlike fossil fuels, it does not create it, but recycles that already absorbed by crops.
He added: “Politicians need to be better informed on these issues. The CO2 scenario is a very short-term solution to a long term problem. We have considered all the options open to us and we are choosing to go for biofuels because we want to strike a chord and push the debate forward.”
Paul Willis, head of Kia Europe, said: “There is a massive challenge on the environment faced by all manufacturers and there is a need for some clear direction.
“What I think you will start to see is more parallel-model ‘eco’ versions with lower emissions but the industry will have to come up with a number of different solutions. I don’t see any silver bullet.”
Thierry Dombreval, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Toyota Motor Europe, which is now a member of the European carmakers’ association ACEA, said that the industry was quite active in its consultations with the EU Commission but there was little sign of any standardisation.
Gerry Keaney, marketing chief at Volvo Car Corporation said: ”There does seem to be different legislation in different markets and while we, as car makers, do have a responsibility, we also need some stability from the legislators. Fuel companies also have their part to play and we all really need to be sitting down and talking about this.
London’s new charges based on CO2 emissions come into effect in October.
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