Jaguar Land Rover has set aside € 99.5 million to pay a possible CO2 fine from the European Union, says CFO Adrian Mardell in the quarterly meeting with investors. According to him, it is largely due to force majeure that JLR does not expect to meet the CO2 standard.
A less stringent European CO2 standard applies to Jaguar Land Rover. The group must come below an emission of 130.6 grams per km to avoid a fine. That is probably not going to work this year, according to the words of Mardell. He has already put money aside to ensure that a possible fine can be paid. “We’re not happy we don’t compliant are in 2020 “, he says among others Automotive News. “We hope that 90 million (pounds, ed.) Is the worst possible scenario.” At the end of the second quarter, the amount set aside for the CO2 fine was still € 64 million. Mardell expects that the massive roll-out of plug-in hybrids could help JLR to reduce emissions somewhat.
The final amount of the fine has yet to be determined, but JLR apparently already sees it gloomy. Mardell says that it is mainly due to force majeure that the group will not achieve the CO2 target. For example, the coronavirus has delayed the certification of the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque P300e, leading to the cars entering the market with a worst-case certification. This means that the emission figures are higher than initially promised and that is obviously not favorable for the average. Nor did it help that the market introduction of those models was delayed.
CO2 pool
A fine of nearly € 100 million would mean that JLR’s profits largely evaporated. Mardell is not talking about looking for a ‘CO2 pool’ to further reduce average emissions. The fact that he has already set aside a fine in the budget indicates that JLR will probably bear the loss himself. Ford, on the other hand, is looking for a collaboration with another manufacturer to avoid a fine. Renault also has such a pool open. Since Thierry Bolloré, the relatively new CEO of JLR, comes from Renault, there may still be a deal in the offing.