| CO2 Target "Not Feasible" | ||
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(Thu 12 Jul 07) European car manufacturers have once again expressed their doubts about the EU's CO2 emissions target. The occasion was yesterday's lunchtime meeting of the Kangaroo Group, an independent forum created to review the EU's activities and suggest future initiatives. The guest speaker was Sergio Marchionne, President of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) and CEO of Fiat Group. Marchionne explained the ACEA's commitment to reducing CO2 emissions, and said that these came down by 13% in new cars from 1995 to 2005. He added that the improvement could have been more impressive but for the effect of EU regulations, market trends and low demand for fuel-efficient vehicles (which restricted progress by nearly 15g/km). "We have delivered CO2 reductions and we will continue to deliver," he said. "But I need to be clear: a target for the vehicle industry of 130 grammes CO2 per kilometre by 2012 is not feasible. It will force our innovative industry out of Europe, without benefiting the environment in an even vaguely to sufficient way. "The industry will continue to take many incremental steps, again delivering significant CO2 reductions in the coming years. But additional requirements on the car industry cannot be implemented before 2015. The production of cars is planned well ahead and only very limited changes can be made afterwards." Marchionne added that the focus on vehicle technology was unhelpful. "It is absolutely crucial to implement an integrated approach to achieve the ambitious targets society wants, combining vehicle technology with a larger use of alternative fuels, intelligent traffic management, changes in driving style and implementation of CO2-related taxation, to shape consumer demand." |
