German manufacturer BMW is celebrating after being named as the producer of the cleanest premium cars by an environmental website following industry-wide research into CO2 emissions.

Thanks to its EfficientDynamics programme, BMW has the most improved average CO2 emission levels of any premium manufacturer. From the period January-June 2008, BMW recorded an average of 161.4g/km of CO2 across its model range. This compared favourably to the likes of Audi (177.36g/km), Mercedes (192.85g/km), Jaguar (200g/km) and Porsche (274.64g/km). BMW even finished considerably ahead of Lexus, which, despite its fleet of hybrid models, could only manage an average emission level of 194.85g/km.

In terms of percentage improvements during the course of the year, BMW has reduced its emissions by 11.4 per cent, well ahead of Audi with 5.78 per cent and Mercedes with 4.13 per cent. Lexus and Jaguar could only manage improvements of 2.16 per cent and 2.04 per cent respectively while Porsche model emissions actually increased by 0.63 per cent.

The MINI range is celebrating similar success through its MINIMALISM programme, similar to EfficientDynamics. The average CO2 emission levels across the MINI range are just 139.64g/km an improvement of 9.44 per cent compared to one year ago.

For the BMW Group these achievements are just the beginning. It aims to continue to improve emission levels ahead of EU guidelines and a NOx storage capability within a catalytic converter will be offered on future models.