GreenFleet

Using limited resources responsibly and protecting our environment: these are probably the greatest assignments of society today. In both respects, European automobile manufacturers have an important role to play and they are embracing this challenge.
    
Vehicle makers are technology leaders, driving innovation towards cleaner, ‘greener’ transport. Every year, lower-emission new cars, vans and trucks come onto market, demonstrating this commitment. There are areas, however, where sharing efforts is necessary as technology alone does not have all the answers. What about growth in transport demand, for example, or the emissions from congestion and inefficient infrastructure? How best to trigger consumer involvement and drive the market towards cleaner vehicles?
    
The automobile industry invests heavily in new technologies and strategies to address these complex questions. All over the world, the automobile brings improved quality of life; the task is to sustain its benefits while reducing its environmental impact. The vehicle manufacturers produce for today’s and tomorrow’s world and are determined to play their part.

Tough legislation
The European automobile manufacturers are facing tough legislation from the EU and are engaged in an intensive dialogue with legislators to achieve the best possible outcome for society in terms of economic growth and the protection of the environment.
    
The manufacturers fully support the EU objective of further reducing average car emissions to 120g CO2 per kilometre by 2012. Crucial for the future of the industry, however, is how this target is achieved.
    
Controlling climate change is a complex and global challenge and needs concerted efforts embracing all areas of society. Placing the burden mainly on the car industry, as the European Commission has proposed, is the most expensive strategy. It could lead to pressure on manufacturers with, as yet, unclear economic consequences.

Integrated approach
The appropriate solution to reduce CO2 emissions from cars and to safeguard jobs and investments in Europe is an integrated approach, combining further improvements in vehicle technology, an increased use of alternative fuels, improved infrastructure and traffic management, a more economic driving style and harmonised CO2-related taxation across the EU. This requires a partnership involving the automotive industry, the fuel industry, policy makers at all EU government levels and consumers.
    
A vehicle-related target of 130g CO2 per kilometre by 2012, as proposed by the Commission, is not feasible, as the exact legal requirements will not be known before 2009 at the earliest. The parameters of the legislation will determine the technical implementation of the rules and prescribe the ‘type approval’ requirements, or the rules with which a car has to comply before it can be sold on the EU markets. Here, important investment decisions are pending.   

The car industry needs a phase-in period until 2015 to be able to match its manufacturing and development cycles to the new rules. Both car development and production cycles are very long. To illustrate this: 60 per cent of the cars that will be for sale in 2012 are already in production today. Changing these products significantly would be very difficult.

R&D investment
That does not mean that in the meantime nothing is happening. The industry invests €20 billion (4 per cent of turnover) per year in research and development, a large chunk of which goes to improved fuel-efficiency and other technologies that enhance the environmental performance of cars. Over the last decade, ACEA members implemented more than 50 new, CO2-cutting technologies into their vehicles. And many more are on the brink of market introduction, or in the longer-term development phase.
    
The European car manufacturers are world leaders in many fields of expertise, based on a long tradition of innovation and fulfilling consumer demand. The industry continuously strives to remain at the top. That is precisely why the European manufacturers form one of the most stable pillars of the EU economy, providing employment to two million people and supporting the jobs of ten million other workers in the EU.
    
The EU can help further encourage innovation by introducing more flexibility into the upcoming legislation. Mistakenly, many important technologies are ignored in the current legislative proposal on reducing CO2 emissions from cars. They have been excluded because they are neither part of the ‘test cycle’ for new cars, nor of the so-called ‘complementary measures’ (gear-shift indicators, fuel-efficient air-conditioning, tyre-pressure monitoring, low-rolling resistance tyres) as identified by the European Commission. This is a missed opportunity.
    
Reducing CO2 emissions from cars is a complex challenge and involves improvements of the whole vehicle, not just the engine. And in addition to car technology, also the driver, the choice of fuel and the quality of infrastructure are decisive to arrive at the best possible fuel-economy and hence lowest CO2 emissions of a car.

Eco-innovative technologies
The European automotive industry has identified multiple categories for eco-innovative car technologies: systems & components, running resistance, well-to-wheel efficiency, smart navigation and driver information. All categories contain numerous technology applications, from adaptive cruise-control and super efficient LED lights to robotised gearboxes and the storage and re-use of heat.
    
Some of these examples are readily available today; others are still in the development phase. Some are very simple, many very complex and new. Some offer modest, others substantial CO2 reduction potential. All technologies can and should be credibly measured and monitored.
    
A system that embraces eco-innovative technologies that are measured outside the test cycle – by accounting credits for individual cars – would allow car manufacturers to reduce new car CO2 emissions in a more efficient way, leading to lower costs for the industry and the consumer. A technology-open legislative framework encourages further innovations and enhances the industry’s competitive strength, to the benefit of EU growth, society and the environment.

Penalty scheme
Last but not least, the car industry insists on the need for a fair and realistic system with objectives it can meet in an appropriate timeframe. The suggested penalties are of an unprecedented high level. The industry is not looking to buy its way out. If at all, payments should be reasonable and defined in relation to the market price of carbon applied widely to other sectors.
    
In the proposed legislation there is no link between the penalties facing the car industry and the price of carbon paid by other industries through the European emissions trading scheme. The proposed penalties price a tonne of carbon produced by cars at up to €475, where the ETS market price will evolve towards about €33 per tonne, according to Commission estimates coming from currently less than €5. The comparison is based on the average 200,000 kilometres that a car drives over its lifetime. Therefore, 1 gramme of CO2 emitted above the legal target would correspond to 200 kg of excess emissions, or 0.2 tonne of CO2. If the car industry would be fined €95 per gramme-above-target, this would equal paying €475 (5 times €95) for each tonne of CO2. This is far more than any other sector.
    
Penalties for the car industry would also be significantly higher than any cartel fine paid in EU competition cases, which concern illegal competition law infringements with huge damages for consumers.

Constructive sustainability
All manufacturers’ efforts are focused on further reducing carbon from cars. The upcoming regulatory framework should help in a constructive and sustainable way. Investments in eco technologies should be recognised and rewarded; the industry needs sufficient preparation time ahead of new legislation, and penalties should be fair. Finally, consumer demand should be shaped towards a preference for fuel-efficient technology to encourage swift market take-up of available solutions, and fleet renewal in general. No target can be met without the help of the market.
    
The EU objective of achieving average car emissions of 120 grammes CO2/km by 2012 is possible if the appropriate measures are put in place and all parties are involved: car industry, fuel industry, policy makers - to adjust infrastructure and introduce CO2-related taxation - and car users. That is the challenge Europe faces.

About ACEA
ACEA represents the 15 major European car, truck and coach manufacturers. The automobile industry is the engine of Europe, with direct and indirect employment for twelve million families, and R&D investments of €20 billion annually.