Volkswagen Failing on Climate; Renault on Track to Meet EU Target
BRUSSELS, October 25 -- Three-quarters of the 20 major car brands sold in Europe last year have failed to improve fuel efficiency at the rate needed to meet a key EU climate target, new figures show.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car brand in terms of sales, has improved fuel efficiency at less than half the rate needed. In contrast, Renault, Europe's second biggest brand and a direct competitor of VW, is on track to meet the target for the average new car sold to emit 140 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometre by 2008. Renault reduced its emissions by twice as much as VW.
These findings come from a study by Transport & Environment (T&E), the first to track the progress of individual car brands in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under the terms of a commitment made by the car industry to the EU in 1998-9. The deal also included an agreement not to disclose the performance of individual companies in cutting emissions.
Improving fuel efficiency of new cars is a key method of tackling climate change because the more fuel a car uses, the more CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere.
T&E commissioned the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), UK to analyse sales data from the period 1997-2005 supplied by R.L. Polk Marketing Systems GmbH, the primary data source used by the car industry.
According to the study, 75% of carmakers are failing to cut emissions fast enough. Nissan is the worst performer in Europe followed by Suzuki, Mazda, Audi, Volvo, BMW and Volkswagen. These seven brands all cut emissions at less than half the rate needed to meet their commitment.
Fiat is the best performer in Europe, followed by Citroen, Renault, Ford and Peugeot. All five are on track to meet or exceed the target by 2008.
The study also found that Toyota, maker of the low-emission Prius hybrid, is failing to improve efficiency across its range at the rate needed. The study concludes that if climate targets are to be met, companies must improve efficiency across their entire range. One or two very efficient models that sell in limited numbers are not enough.
Aat Peterse of T&E said, "Renault is on track while Volkswagen is way off even though Renault started with higher emissions in 1997. Clearly the target is achievable, but as long as seventy-five percent of carmakers go unpunished for their failure, we will never make the necessary progress. Europe must kiss its voluntary targets goodbye and waste no more time in coming up with legally-binding measures to double fuel-efficiency in the next decade. Individual carmakers must be held responsible and punished if they fail."
Contacts:
Aat Peterse, Clean Cars Programme Manager, Transport and Environment(T&E)
tel: +32-2-502-9909, aat.peterse@transportenvironment.org
Dudley Curtis, Communications Officer, Transport and Environment(T&E)
Tel: +32-2-289-1042, dudley.curtis@transportenvironment.org
Notes to editors:
Ranking Brand 2005 CO2 emissions in g/km %
1997 2005 reduction reduction of
sales average average 1997 target target
- 2005 achieved
1 Fiat 681,613 169 139 -30 -21 140%
2 Citroen 875,389 172 144 -28 -24 115%
3 Renault 1,361,607 173 149 -25 -25 100%
4 Ford 1,167,602 180 151 -29 -30 95%
5 Peugeot 1,049,819 177 151 -26 -28 94%
6 Ope
/Vauxhall 1,262,798 180 156 -24 -30 81%
7 Toyota 704,723 189 163 -26 -35 76%
8 Kia 231,434 202 170 -32 -44 72%
9 Skoda 265,486 165 152 -13 -19 71%
10 Seat 344,693 158 150 -8 -13 63%
11 Honda 224,258 184 166 -18 -31 60%
12 Mercedes-Benz 626,824 223 185 -38 -64 59%
13 Hyundai 294,468 189 170 -19 -34 57%
14 Volkswagen 1,387,628 170 159 -11 -22 48%
15 BMW 575,087 216 192 -23 -58 40%
16 Volvo 224,415 219 195 -24 -61 39%
17 Audi 582,220 190 177 -13 -38 35%
18 Mazda 214,105 186 177 -9 -32 27%
19 Suzuki 172,941 169 165 -4 -20 22%
20 Nissan 332,742 177 172 -5 -26 20%
- The report 'How clean is your car brand?' can be downloaded from the T&E website at: www.transportenvironment.org
- In 1998 the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) committed to the European Union to reduce the average CO2 emissions of new cars sold in the (then) 15 EU Member States to 140 g/km by 2008, down from 186 g/km in 1995. Similar agreements were signed by the Japanese and Korean manufacturers' associations the following year (1999). The target year for the JAMA and KAMA associations is 2009.
- 1997 was the first year manufacturers were obliged to provide CO2 figures based on an official EU test-cycle, following the coming-into-force of EU directive 93/116
- Only major car brands, those with sales of over 150,000 cars in 2005, were included in the T&E study.
- The voluntary commitment only applies to new vehicles sold. Overall CO2 emissions from all cars and vans on Europe's roads have risen by 1% per year since 1990 and are responsible for 15% of Europe's CO2 emissions.
- Having signed the voluntary commitment, the EU agreed with the car industry not to publish the performance of individual companies in cutting emissions. An unpublished memo on the monitoring process obtained by T&E contains the wording 'the Commission's official reports on the monitoring results will not refer to the individual company's (sic) achievements'
About T&E
T&E is Europe's principal environmental organisation campaigning specifically on transport. Together with our 44 member organisations in 20 European countries, T&E works to promote an environmentally-sound approach to transport and mobility.
www.transportenvironment.org
Contacts: Aat Peterse, Clean Cars Programme Manager, Transport and Environment (T&E), tel: +32-2-502-9909, aat.peterse@transportenvironment.org, Dudley Curtis, Communications Officer, Transport and Environment (T&E), Tel: +32-2-289-1042, dudley.curtis@transportenvironment.org