Any colour you like, as long as it's green. The car companies’ most pressing environmental concern relates to European Union proposals to set stringent emissions targets for carbon-dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.
The average new Porsche pumps out nearly 300g of carbon dioxide; Mercedes and BMW also rely on luxury cars that are big, fast, profitable and polluting. But, more surprisingly, even smaller carmakers, which are much closer to meeting the new stringent conditions, say they are troubled by the proposed rules.
The problem for makers of those small cars is that any chance of getting decent profits in the saturated markets of Western Europe (emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia are another matter) comes from improving margins on each vehicle sold. But on small cars those margins are already rather thin. Thus the additional cost of developing new technologies to meet the 130g emissions target, let alone meeting tougher EU standards to come, might prove more painful for makers of small cars than for those who make luxury ones.
Car companies argue that new regulations may prove to be unnecessary. The demands of the market, they say, are driving them in the right direction anyway. Christian Streiff, boss of PSA Peugeot Citroën, says that pollution could be cut by two-thirds simply by removing the oldest (and thus dirtiest) 20% of vehicles from the roads. Moreover, the vast additional cost of trying to meet the targets quickly could endanger jobs and damage competitiveness. The industry argues that governments could instead do more to reduce congestion, improve roads and even teach more fuel-efficient driving techniques.
The average new Porsche pumps out nearly 300g of carbon dioxide; Mercedes and BMW also rely on luxury cars that are big, fast, profitable and polluting. But, more surprisingly, even smaller carmakers, which are much closer to meeting the new stringent conditions, say they are troubled by the proposed rules.
The problem for makers of those small cars is that any chance of getting decent profits in the saturated markets of Western Europe (emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia are another matter) comes from improving margins on each vehicle sold. But on small cars those margins are already rather thin. Thus the additional cost of developing new technologies to meet the 130g emissions target, let alone meeting tougher EU standards to come, might prove more painful for makers of small cars than for those who make luxury ones.
Car companies argue that new regulations may prove to be unnecessary. The demands of the market, they say, are driving them in the right direction anyway. Christian Streiff, boss of PSA Peugeot Citroën, says that pollution could be cut by two-thirds simply by removing the oldest (and thus dirtiest) 20% of vehicles from the roads. Moreover, the vast additional cost of trying to meet the targets quickly could endanger jobs and damage competitiveness. The industry argues that governments could instead do more to reduce congestion, improve roads and even teach more fuel-efficient driving techniques.
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