"Across the board we can see that industry is waking up, but there are very big differences between them," said T&E Director Jos Dings, presenting the report yesterday (14 September).
"We have never seen such variations - 80% between the best and the worst performers," he added, explaining that previously the difference had been a matter of a couple of percentage points.
The new figures show that 'well-placed' carmakers - those who already have the cleanest fleets and need to cut emissions by less than 18% - actually cut their emissions by less than 4% last year.
Winners and losers
'Best-placed' carmaker Peugeot-Citroën (PSA) made the fewest cuts (-2.0%) in 2008 while the progress made by Fiat also "slowed dramatically". Their poor performance was followed by Renault, Toyota, Honda, GM and the VW Group.
Fiat and PSA currently have Europe's cleanest fleets on average and are already close to meeting their EU targets.
Asked why many firms had performed so badly, Dings said the current best performers had not done as much because "they don't have to," adding that more serious improvements in performance are not likely before 2015 when the carmakers need to start to prepare for the EU's 2020 target of 95/km.
On the contrary, the T&E analysis shows that 'badly placed' carmakers, those who needed to cut emissions by more than 20% in order to meet the EU targets, made cuts of 4% and more. The best ones, BMW and Mazda, cut their emissions up to 10% and 8.2% respectively.
Suzuki and Mazda, who have the most work to do to meet the targets, also made big steps forward in 2008, the report notes.
T&E underlines that BMW, Hyundai and Ford "stood out in terms of progress in 2008 compared to what they have to do". However, more than half of Ford's progress can be put down to the sale of its "gas guzzling" Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
Technology the key
Asked what makes BMW the best performer in terms of progress for the second year in row, Dings said it was "very much a technology question".
Given the fact that BMW's CO2 and fuel efficiency improvements are not due to a shift towards smaller and lighter cars, progress is "most likely due to its 'Efficient Dynamics' programme, a range of fuel-saving measures", T&E believes.
Dings also stressed that BMW had introduced the new technology across its entire fleet, boosting overall performance. In comparison, Toyota and Honda - which sell the most hybrid cars - and Europe's biggest carmaker VW sell fuel efficiency as an option rather than as standard.
CO2 targets for vans under way
According to T&E, the positive impact of the cars and CO2 legislation "adds to the evidence that legally-binding targets should be extended to vans and lorries".
"Clearly regulation is working, and if it works for cars, it will work for vans where progress so far has been even worse," said Dings.
The EU is set to announce legally-binding targets for vans in October.
