Environmental Leader

Automakers BMW and Mazda cut their average CO2 emissions for cars sold in Europe in 2008 by 10.2 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively, according to a new report from the European Federation for Transport & Environment. The report also shows that nine of the fourteen volume producers in the ranking achieved 4 percent or lower reductions.

European Union lawmakers in December approved legislation requiring manufacturers to reduce average emissions to 130 grams by 2015, and target an additional 95 grams average target by 2020, according to Bloomberg News.

The positive impact of the legislation adds to the evidence that legally-binding targets should be extended to vans and cargo trucks, according to Jos Dings, director of Transport & Environment

The report also indicates that progress slowed significantly at Fiat and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, which have Europe’s cleanest fleets on average and are close to meeting their EU targets. Suzuki and Mazda, which have been slow to improve efficiency in the past, have made big steps forward in 2008, according to the report.

Fiat (138 grams/kilometer) and PSA Peugeot-Citroen (139 g/km) manufacture cars with the lowest average carbon-dioxide emissions for cars sold in Europe in 2008, while Daimler produces cars with the highest carbon-dioxide emissions at 175 g/km, followed by Nissan at 161 g/km, according to the report.

Overall, carmakers reduced emissions by 3.3 percent to 159 grams of CO2 per kilometer in 2008, short of a voluntary industry commitment to cut average emissions to 140 grams last year, said researchers, according to Bloomberg News.

Dings told Bloomberg News that the overall 3.3 percent improvement this year is more than in any other year under the industry’s voluntary commitment to reduce emissions, showing that regulation is much more effective, Dings said.

Among European Union member states, the most fuel-efficient cars were sold on average in Portugal, France and Italy, while the most environmentally unfriendly cars were sold in Sweden, Estonia and Latvia, according to the study, reports Bloomberg.

Improvements to fuel efficiency are directly linked to reductions in CO2 emissions, according to the report.