FIA welcomes European Parliament decision to make cars more efficient

Publication date: 26 September 2008

 “The European Parliament’s decision is a courageous one. Keeping the course towards the 120 g/km of CO2 by 2012 will benefit European consumers and support Europe’s competitiveness globally” declared Wil Botman, Director General of the FIA European Bureau.

The Parliament’s Environment Committee vote gives overwhelming support to the Commission’s legislative proposals for setting efficiency targets for new passenger cars.

“Europe has set itself an ambitious but realistic target for 2012. Most technologies needed to achieve this target exist and need to be further spread-out in the market” added Botman.

The European motoring and touring clubs have put a number of these technologies to the test in the field when driving through Europe. During the EcoTour 2008 small, medium and large petrol and diesel cars fitted with technologies such as hybrid propulsion and start-and-stop as well as cars trimmed to be most fuel efficient were driven through nine countries on different kinds of roads. That the resulting average consumption was close to the 2012 target confirms that the necessary technologies to achieve the European objective are well within reach.

The EcoTour 2008 has however also highlighted once again that an important element is still missing in Europe’s strategy: eco-driving. It is a smart, energy efficient and safe way of driving that offers tremendous potential to save fuel.

“The EcoTour participants demonstrated that by applying a few basic rules, fuel consumption could easily be reduced by a further 20 to 30 %” said Botman. “Eco-driving should therefore be included in Europe’s strategy without delay. At the same time the EU should further push for the implementation of on-board diagnostics supportive of eco-driving such as instant fuel consumption information, gear shift indicators, cruise control and tyre pressure monitoring systems. Informed and improved consumer purchasing and driving behaviour supported by in-car efficiency technologies further improve the desired greening effects” asserted Botman.

The Commission’s proposed legislative framework however remains crucial to attain the European objective. The FIA CO2 model (1) showed that, while the needed technologies are available, Europe would miss its 2012 CO2 emission target in a “business as usual” scenario. The legislative framework must however guarantee that consumers will retain the financial benefits of the lower fuel consumption. The costs of new technologies, including possible penalties, should not be offset at the consumer’s expense.

Note to editors

The FIA, the world’s leading motoring and touring organisation, represents via its affiliated members, national motoring and touring organisations, over 100 million motorists worldwide and 34 million motorists in the European Union. Europe’s motoring and touring organisations have as their highest priority to put their members’ interests at the centre of Europe’s sustainable mobility policy in order to make mobility more sustainable, i.e. more reliable, cleaner and safer while keeping it affordable for all. In this respect the automobile clubs for instance help motorists to increase the energy efficiency of their cars by offering fuel efficient driving courses and information about the fuel efficiency of cars.

(1) The model developed by FIA member ADAC is based on extensive data research on existing vehicle fleets registered between 2001 and 2006. It extrapolates the information to develop market evolution scenarios. The model examines the effect of different factors such as the share of different fuel types, consumer demand patterns, and technological developments, on the average fleet emissions by 2012.

For more information please contact: Olivier Lenz - Tel. +32 2 282 08 25