The average CO2 emissions of new cars in Europe have fallen sharply. This is evident from figures from Jato. Volvo is the only brand ahead of its own target for this year.
On average, the new vehicle fleet of car manufacturers in Europe may only emit 95.7 grams of CO2 per kilometer this year. Fines are awarded above that. Considering all manufacturers, that goal does not seem to be achieved yet. For the period January to August, the average CO2 emissions of 102.2 g / km were 6.5 g / km above that target. Yet it is already no less than 17.8 g / km lower than last year. That is already a significant and striking decrease. In recent years, the average emissions even increased slightly, as can be seen in the table below by Jato:
The significant improvement, according to Jato, is mainly attributable to the significantly increased share of EV sales this year. While overall new sales collapsed due to the crisis, various purchase subsidies in various European countries helped EVs to a considerably larger market share than last year. Across Europe, that market grew by as much as 67 percent through September, while the overall market was down 29 percent. This concerns both fully electric and partly electric cars.
Volvo well on its way
Volvo is doing particularly well with regard to the intended CO2 reduction. According to Jato, that is the only brand (that also supplies combustion engines) that is already under its own objective. Parent company Geely wants to emit only 110.3 g / km across all its brands this year, but is already at 103.1 g / km. It is true that it is still above the EU target, but it is already well below its own target. That is 99 percent Volvo’s responsibility, according to Jato. The other brands, including Polestar, do not have a large share in sales numbers. In the period in question (January to August), 38 percent of new Geely cars sold were electrified.
BMW is also doing good business; that is only half a gram above its target of 102.9 g / km. A striking ‘setback’ is according to Jato Toyota. That was previously the brand that operated the most sharply on the CO2 targets, but not anymore. Toyota is currently only 2.2 grams above its target, but Jato still expects it to be difficult to regain the lead in this area. According to the market researcher, this is mainly due to the fact that Toyota still has little to offer in the fully electric field and that hybrids (despite the 65 percent market share of Toyota’s total sales) press CO2 averages less hard than BEVs.