Car manufacturers' CO₂ targets: who needs to step up?
Page 2: Pooling as an emergency solution: what to do
Theoretically, there is a threat of fines of 95 euros per car and per gram exceeding the CO₂ fleet limit. In practice, all manufacturers still have the option of pooling. This refers to joint balancing. Tesla, for example, is predestined for this and could receive money for pooling: Every manufacturer is allowed to join forces with everyone in the calculation.
However, according to all that is currently foreseeable, this will not be the case in 2025. Considerably greater efforts will be required to achieve the further reduction to minus 55 percent in 2030 and compared to 2021. The CO₂ limit is constant from 2025 to 2029. Nevertheless, the proportion of electric cars must increase steadily during this period to avoid suddenly facing a massive problem in 2030. The car industry's call for the review to be brought forward should also be understood in this light. If the review does not begin until 2026, a result would not be expected until 2028 at the earliest because the bureaucracy is slow. The remaining reaction time would be far too short by industry standards.
Tasks for premium and mass manufacturers
Another scenario is much more coherent: it will gradually become more attractive for the automotive industry to produce electric cars because the cost of battery cells will fall. In the high-price segment, manufacturers are called upon to be first-class in terms of range and charging speed and to convince customers with this strategy. At Audi, these are the electric cars based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE ) such as the Q6 and the A6 e-tron. At Mercedes, the upcoming CLA will be particularly relevant. BMW is preparing for the "new class" with a whole range of different vehicles.
In the segments under 40,000 and under 30,000 euros, i.e. where Volkswagen, Renault and Toyota have many buyers, the main aim is to create a broader range of solid electric cars with sufficient features. Renault is doing this with the R5 and the SUV-like pedant R4. The new edition of the Twingo will follow in 2026. Volkswagen must make the ID series more attractive in terms of price in 2025 before the ID.2 in Polo format arrives in 2026. Toyota continues to enjoy not selling more electric cars than is absolutely necessary. The series version of the "Urban SUV Concept" is therefore expected for 2025. Nothing more. Toyota does not have to offer a dumping price either. After all, the reduction from the current 105 g CO₂/km to a maximum of 97 g CO₂/km for 2025 is only a decrease of less than seven percent.
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(mki)