ICCT Global Automaker Rating 2023: The fastest on the road to e-mobility
Annually, the ICCT assesses car manufacturers' effectiveness in transitioning to electric vehicles. In 2023, Germany is relatively advanced in this regard.
BMW remains at the forefront of the transformation towards e-mobility in Europe.
(Image: Florian Pillau)
- dpa
According to an analysis by the environmental research association ICCT, Mercedes-Benz is making progress in the transition to e-mobility. Alongside two Chinese manufacturers, the German company improved the most, according to the latest "Global Automaker Rating 2023". Within the space of a year, Mercedes moved up three places to fourth place.
According to the data, Mercedes' leap is primarily due to the decarbonization of its supply chains through the use of renewable energies and battery recycling. BMW remained in third place as the best European company. Volkswagen dropped two places in the ranking compared to 2022 and landed in seventh place – behind Chinese manufacturer SAIC and Opel parent company Stellantis.
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is based in the US capital, Washington. In 2015, the organization was instrumental in uncovering the VW emissions fraud in the USA. For the current study, the researchers used ten criteria to assess how successful 21 of the world's largest car manufacturers are in the transition to zero-emission vehicles. The criteria can be summarized in three groups: Market dominance, technological performance and strategic vision.
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The authors of the study classify 13 of the manufacturers analyzed as companies that are in the midst of a transformation - i.e. away from combustion engines and towards zero-emission models. These include Renault (tenth place) and Ford (13th place). Tesla and the Chinese car manufacturer BYD are still ranked as the front-runners. According to the ICCT, the six laggards in the group surveyed include the world's largest car manufacturer Toyota as well as Mazda, Honda and Nissan.
In total, seven manufacturers rose in the ranking between 2022 and 2023, twelve fell and one remained the same. A decline can either mean that a company's performance has deteriorated or that the performance of its competitors has improved. Most improved their performance in the following areas: Share of e-cars sold, energy consumption, range, electric targets and investment in them.
According to the ICCT, the report is based, among other things, on a specially created database on electric car sales and their key specifications in the markets in China, the USA, the European Union, Japan, India and South Korea. In 2023, these six markets accounted for 82 percent of e-car sales. Overall, sales figures and technological performance improved last year, it said.
Only e-cars for the climate target from 2035
Study author Zifei Yang commented: "Although car manufacturers are making considerable progress in the transition to zero-emission vehicles, there is still a lot to do." To be competitive in the future, they would have to expand their model range to increase the sales share of zero-emission vehicles. They would also have to invest in battery recycling, among other things.
According to the ICCT, to limit global warming to below two degrees in line with the Paris climate targets, the proportion of zero-emission cars sold would have to be 77 percent by 2030. Almost 100 percent would have to be achieved by 2035. Additional measures are required to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees.
(mack)