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The European carmakers trade association has again attacked the EU legislation aimed at drastically reducing vehicle carbon dioxide emissions.
Marchionne: EU is unrealistic
ACEA called achieving the target of 130 grams per km “prohibitively expensive” and claimed achieving the target through vehicle technology alone was impractical
ACEA president and Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said: “It is unrealistic to believe that this can be done by 2012. The announced legislative framework will not be ready before 2009.”
The cars of 2012 will be on the drawing table tomorrow, Marchionne
Marchionne said the deadline left the industry too little time to apply the legislation.“The cars of 2012 will be on the drawing table tomorrow,” he said.
The EC last month approved a proposal to decrease cars’ carbon emissions to an average of 120g per kilometre by 2012, from more than 160g at present.
Overall emissions per car must be cut to 130 g/km and that figure will become legally binding.
Marchionne said it was essential for the future of the industry that the EU decided upon a strategy that was “cost effective and fair”.
120g/km by 2012 down from current level of 160g/km
EU CO2 Targets
He called for a more factual discourse rather than the current “highly emotional” environmental debate.“The industry stresses the need for a much more factual debate, as opposed to the current highly emotional discourse, carrying some clear ideological elements,” Marchionne said.
ACEA has requested that the responsibility for reducing average emissions should be shared by fuel suppliers, taxation regimes and traffic infrastructures.