The European Union may have set a 130g/km fleet average carbon dioxide (CO2) emission target for 2012 – but two major car manufacturers have managed to hit the goal already.
Congratulations are due to both Toyota and Fiat – the former now averaging 127.9g/km for its fleet and the latter reaching 129.7g/km according to reports. The figures are obtained by establishing the average CO2 emissions of all cars across each company’s range.
In encouraging news, it appears that others will not be far behind with MINI expected to be the next brand to breakthrough the target. Praise is also due for Hyundai, which now has the fourth lowest CO2 figure following a 9.9 per cent reduction over the last 12 months; and Suzuki, which has slashed its emissions by 11.4 per cent over the same period.
However, perhaps the largest pat on the back should be reserved for Ford and the strides it took in 2009 achieving the largest CO2 saving of 30,000 tonnes.
Even though it seems the industry is heading in the right direction, there is a word of warning too – much of the progress of the last year came because the scrappage incentive encouraged people to move to smaller cars, and it is scheduled to reach its conclusion in February. So the emphasis is still on the major manufacturers to make significant technological breakthroughs to record further reductions.
