European automakers demanded more time on Wednesday to meet mooted CO2 emissions targets but stressed they were on board and working hard to produce cleaner cars.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association agreed with a European Commission plan to cut CO2 emissions to 120 grams per kilometre, but by 2015 at the earliest, ACEA president Sergio Marchionne told reporters at the Frankfurt auto show.
Flanked by other European auto chiefs, Marchionne, who heads the Italian group Fiat, said the proposed deadline of 2012 was not “do-able.”
He said that if EU legislation were to be adopted in 2009, “a minimum of six to seven years is appropriate before it could be enforced.”
The EU commission expects to have a first draft of its new emissions rules ready in early 2008, but carmakers have already blasted the plan as unworkable in a sector subject to long product development cycles.
European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and two German ministers have nontheless warned that automakers could face fines if they did not respect the EU standards.
Marchionne also said other European industries such as the energy and infrastructure sectors should join the battle to reduce greenhouse gases.
He reiterated the ACEA stance that 120 grams was a valid target, but said it depended on “full commitment by all parties on an integrated approach” based on “parameters allocated on an equitable basis” among the carmakers.
The chairman of auto parts maker Valeo said Wednesday that his group had developed ways “to cut in half CO2 emissions” linked to propulsion, estimating they would add 1000-1,500 euros (1,350-2,000 dollars) to the average price of a car.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines, Marchionne later acknowledged that the press briefing had also been held to show European carmakers were united on the issue of lowering emission levels.
Car analysts have said the Europeans were divided because Germans make a lot of big cars and would find it harder to hit the targets than companies producing smaller cars such as Fiat or French groups Peugeot and Renault.
“There is a huge perception out there that there was a difference of opinion between ourselves, the Germans, the Italians, the French. This is nonsense. The industry is absolutely united on this issue,” Marchionne said.
Earlier, German auto analyst Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer said the EU commission needed to “come up with an economic system to give the customer and carmakers the right signals for climate change,” pointing to taxes on higher emitting cars and an existing EU carbon emissions trading scheme as possible components.
On Tuesday, General Motors chairman and chief executive Richard Wagoner said automakers would be able to build hybrid, biofuel or other clean vehicles in the near future but had to bring costs down so that “the consumer feels like its a good value economically for them.”
Of the mooted EU emissions limits Wagoner said: “I think its important that we have a feasible timeframe” to achieve the objective.
Peugeot chief executive Christian Streiff told reporters: “The issue is not technology at any price, but competitive ecology.”
Toyota executive Mike Hawes told AFP Tuesday that his group, like other members of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association, planned to hit a voluntary emissions target of 140 grams by 2009.
Getting to the possible EU standard of 120-130 grams by 2012 “will be very difficult,” he said.
