BMW leads industry in emissions cuts

By John Reed in London
Published: August 26 2008 16:14

BMW is reducing its vehicles’ emissions at four times the rate of other major manufacturers, according to a leading Brussels-based environmental watchdog group.
The average new car sold last year by the Munich-based carmaker typically emitted 7.3 per cent less carbon dioxide per kilometer than in 2006, according to a report on carmakers’ fuel efficiency by Transport & Environment, the campaign group.

The finding will vindicate BMW’s Efficient Dynamics strategy of improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions across its vehicle lineup, rather than focusing on a small number of image-boosting “eco-cars.”
BMW, with a fleet dominated by the kind of high-performance luxury cars now in the sights of carbon-cutting legislators, has one of the industry’s largest research and development budgets.
It is investing heavily in more efficient engines, “stop-start” or microhybrid systems, and other emissions-cutting technology in response to pressure from local and national regulators, including the European Union, which wants carmakers to cut their cars’ average CO2 by about a quarter by 2012 to 130 g/km.
“This year you see the first signs of the reaction of the industry to regulatory pressure,” said Jos Dings, T&E’s director. “We hope that next year they show more progress and that this regulatory pressure works.”
The group compiled the report from data submitted by EU governments to the European Commission. Some carmakers have in past disputed the figures T&E uses, and BMW was not immediately available for comment.
Other companies that made significant improvements in CO2 reduction last year included Hyundai and Daimler, down 3.9 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.
However, T&E said Daimler’s improved ranking had much to do with its demerger last year with Chrysler, which has many large, high-emission vehicles in its lineup. Nor are carmakers are not yet improving their cars’ efficiency fast enough to meet the EU’s proposed climate target for new cars, according to T&E.
Notwithstanding its improved performance, BMW’s cars emitted an average of 160 g/km last year, slightly above the industry average.
Of the 14 automakers ranked, Ford Motor and Honda showed the least improvement last year, with Ford’s average CO2 emissions down 0.2 per cent and Honda’s up 1.1 per cent, according to the group.
Toyota, which makes much of the green credentials of cars like its hybrid Prius, reduced its emissions by only 2.4 per cent.
The draft EU legislation is due to be discussed in committee in the European parliament next month, and debated by European environment ministers later in the year.
BMW and other carmakers are lobbying for loopholes to be included in the draft to give them more time to meet the targets or exemptions or credits for clean vehicles.
The carmakers say that thousands of jobs and their future profits will be threatened by overzealous legislation. Campaigners warn they are seeking to water down European targets on cutting emissions.
Fiends of the Earth, who are members of T&E, said that members of the European Parliament “must stand firm against the self-interested lobbying of the car industry and vote for tough new standards to cut emissions from cars.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008