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UK new car CO2 emissions down 1.2% in 2005

Wed 26 April 2006 View all news

The average new car sold in the UK in 2005 emitted 1.2% less carbon dioxide than in 2004 according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ (SMMT) latest report: ‘UK New Car Registrations by CO2 Performance’.

The average new car sold in 2005 showed a 10.7% improvement on the 1997 average, when figures were first reported, the SMMT says. The car efficiency improvement has, however, been taken up by the rise in vehicle ownership and use – and an increase in road freight - resulting in a small net rise in total carbon emissions from road transport over the period.

The emissions fall was largely due to a further growth in the share of diesel in the car market and also by an improvement in the efficiency of petrol cars.

The 2005 survey showed that average carbon emissions from cars bought by companies remain below those bought by private individuals; over the last year the rate of emissions reduction in the private and company sectors has been similar.

The rate of decline in average UK new car carbon emissions last year was slightly higher than the 1% fall in European new car emissions reported recently by ENDS. The Brussels-based environment group T&E, who sourced the sales data from a German consultancy used by the European Commission, said that the European car industry now needs to achieve an unprecedented improvement rate of over 4% per year to achieve the voluntary target of a 140g/km CO2 new car average that was set for 2008/9.

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UK new car CO2 emissions down 1.2% in 2005

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