New CO2 requirements may hit manufacturers hard

The ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers' Association announced that in the wake of the European Commission's outline to reduce CO2 emissions from all cars and trucks, they will be working closely with their members to achieve the fleet-average target of 95 gCO2/km for cars and 147 gCO2/km for vans by 2020. The tough economic vehicle market being what it is at the moment, some car manufacturers are feeling the strain of the proposed new measures."These are tough targets - the toughest in the world. Indeed, contrary to some claims, the proposed targets for the European fleet are far more stringent than those in the US, China or Japan. This will increase manufacturing costs in Europe, creating a competitive disadvantage for the region and further slowing the renewal of the fleet," stated Ivan Hodac, ACEA Secretary General. The ACEA members include BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler, FIAT S.p.A., Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, IVECO S.p.A., Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Cars, and Volvo Group. We will have to wait and see what steps these manufactures take in order to comply with the new recommendations and if it may mean paying a little bit extra toward reducing our carbon footprint.