Greener, not leaner

tauringhuang.

Sep 4th 2008
From Economist.com

Faced with big penalties, carmakers are improving efficiency


THERE is nothing like high oil prices and swingeing new penalties on carbon-spewing vehicles to concentrate the minds of carmakers. The European Commission plans to impose penalties on companies by 2012 if their fleets emit over 130 grams of carbon dioxide per km (g/km). After much complaining about the technical impossibility of compliance (especially from German makers of big luxury cars), companies have got on with rolling out new technologies to improve efficiency. BMW cut its average fleet emissions by 7.3% last year by using “efficient dynamics” across its range, according to T&E, a transport think-tank. Many carmakers saw little improvement, partly because cars got 10kg heavier on average. PSA Peugeot-Citroën and Renault are best placed to meet the 2012 target.