CO2 emissions are now a big issue for the motor industry but the proposed mandatory EU limit of 130g per 100km travelled “is really unachievable given some of the status quos”, according to Mitsubishi Motors Europe president and CEO chief executive Tim Tozer.
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In an interview with just-auto, he said that in the last five years, legislated safety requirements [anti-lock brakes are now mandatory in Europe, for example] had added weight to cars “which goes against CO2”.
He thinks the industry understands that legislation will come while politicians “politically probably need legislation rather than voluntary targets”.
“I think that’s OK but the issue is, do the politicians want to serve up legislation that wipes the German car industry off the face of the earth?”
On the eve of the Geneva motor show last week, Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking told a German magazine that, if the brand had to achieve an average of 130g/km of CO2 output, it would have to close its plants.
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By GlobalDataTozer said that the answer to his question would be “no” and ultimately there would be “some degree of flex”.
He added that, while the French and Italians were “game playing” with claims they can meet 130g, “plenty of manufacturers could not make their business models work on 130.”
He said there was room for flexibility on timing, on size of vehicle relative to emissions, and flexibility on other EU initiatives such as teaching people to drive in an environmentally-sensitive way. Such initiatives could be used to offset vehicle output figures with an overall benefit, Tozer suggested.
“I don’t know what the answers will be but, quite bluntly, if the politicians stick with what they have said, the industry will struggle.
“The industry can’t do 130 to the timeframe. I genuinely don’t think so.”
He stressed the industry was not running away from dramatically improving its CO emissions over time but said it wasn’t as simplistic as politicians are currently suggesting.
“At this stage of the game it is a bit of a game but it’s a very serious game with potentially significant consequences if the game gets played wrongly.”
He said that MMC believes in electric cars as the next generation of genuinely technologically innovative solution to the problem.
“We have driveable electric cars but of course there are development issues that need to be fully explored before these cars could be marketable. We believe that is the direction.”
He said Mitsubishi did not have the resources to develop petrol-electric hybrids as “an interim solution on this journey” and hinted that the partnership with PSA might help there.
Stressing it was a personal view, he added: “The industry can rise to the challenge but the challenge must be realistic.”
He said that there was no indication that customers wanted to buy smaller cars and that politicians may want to consider fiscal incentives to encourage the purchase of smaller cars in a way that allows the industry to earn a greater financial return on such vehicles.
“If Europe wants a vibrant car industry, in terms of both sales and production, the industry’s got to earn some money because the investments in these products, particularly if they become more technologically complicated and advanced to deal with CO2, can amount to millions of euros.
“If you’re only going to be earning skinny little returns on an A-class car, and if there’s no real demand for such small cars, then the industry will not be self-sustaining anyway,” Tozer said.
Graeme Roberts
