Brussels - Big cars from Germany have consolidated their lead in the undesirable ranking of European vehicles that emit most polluting carbon dioxide (CO2), a study published on Thursday found. The study, commissioned by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based pressure group, ranked major manufacturers according to their fleet's average CO2 emissions.
It found that while French, Italian and Japanese manufacturers have all cut average emissions between 2005 and 2006, cars sold in Europe by Volkswagen and Daimler in 2006 emit, on average, more than those they sold in 2005.
Overall, PSA Peugeot Citroen of France sold Europe's lowest emitting cars (with a fleet average of 142 grams of CO2 per kilometre), followed by Italy's Fiat (144 g/km), Renault of France (147 g/km) and Japan's Toyota (153 g/km).
Daimler, makers of Mercedes, ranked bottom of the list with average emissions of 188 g/km, up 2.8 per cent from 2005.
Meanwhile BMW, another German manufacturer, reduced average emissions by 2.5 per cent between 2005 and 2006, but still sold the most polluting cars after Daimler.
CO2 emission levels and fuel consumptions are strictly related to how much a car weighs, meaning small cars generally pollute less and guzzle less petrol than their bigger brothers.
Studies have found that every percentage of weight saved results in a reduction in emissions of 0.8 per cent.
T&E said the poor CO2 performance of Daimler was largely explained by the fact that it had increased its cars' average weight by around 4 per cent between 2005 and 2006.
The European Union, prompted by Germany, first proposed reducing average CO2 emission levels for new cars to 120 g/km back in 1994.
But the proposal has repeatedly been postponed and watered down due to intense lobbying from car manufacturers.
The EU now wants to reduce average emission levels to 130 g/km by 2012.
"It is ironic that the country that did so much to get a European consensus on new climate targets earlier this year is also home to the carmakers that are holding back progress on one of the most important ways of achieving them," T&E Director Jos Dings said.
"Germany's fine automotive engineers should be focusing on making cars leaner and more fuel efficient. Sadly, based on recent progress, they mostly seem to be intent on building ever heavier, larger and more gas guzzling cars that simply don't belong in the 21st century," he added.
