A strategy by automakers to downsize engines and reduce weight to help meet Europe’s stricter CO2 emissions targets is paying dividends, shows official data.
New cars sold in the 28 European Union countries in 2015 emitted an average 119.6 grams of CO2 per km, about 10 g/km – or 8 percent – below the target set by EU lawmakers.
This also represents a 3 percent reduction over the previous year.
But the figures have been contested by environmental group Transport & Environment who claim the laboratory results have been manipulated and do not reflect real world driving conditions.
It is working with the French Peugeot Citroen Group to develop more meaningful real world results on the road.
Greg Archer, clean vehicles director at Transport & Environment, said, “Official figures on carmakers’ new car CO2 emissions are hot air. Most of the measured improvement is being delivered through manipulating tests, not real-world reductions.”