Porsche has said that the decision by the European Union to propose binding limits on CO2 for vehicles signals an important change of direction for the industry.
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Car manufacturers will be required to limit average CO2 emissions to 130g/km by 2012, compared with over 160g today. A further 10g/km reduction in average emissions should come from other measures, such as adoption of more alternative fuels and eco-driving, bringing the total target to 120/km on average.
The details of how the measures will be enforced still have to be decided. German manufacturers have been particularly vocal in calling for CO2 reduction to be achieved through measures other than technology, which they see as damaging to the competitiveness of the industry.
Because Germany produces a lot of premium vehicles, some of its manufacturers have a lot of work to do to reduce CO2 emissions. They can be expected to continue campaigning over the next year or so for variable limits depending on the type of vehicle, so SUVs, for example, could have a higher limit, and small cars a lower limit. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said that Germany would not sign up to binding limits that did not differentiate between types of vehicle.
A Porsche spokesman told a German press agency that the EU proposals show that the commission is open to a ‘competition-neutral’ solution, which will consider the different composition of vehicle manufacturer fleets. This is something that Porsche sees as being in its favour.
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By GlobalDataThe automaker needs to be on the defensive here. Its CO2 emissions are way outside the target range, averaging 297g/km per vehicle. The Cayenne SUV emits around 380g/km of CO2.
