Record drop in CO2 output thanks to scrappage scheme

The average - CO2 output in the UK has fallen a record 8.9g/km to 149.8 g/km. The output of vehicles manufactured by Toyota (127.9 g/km) and Fiat (129.7 g/km) now falls below the EU target of 130 g/km of CO2, which has been set for 2012, while Mini is in third place with 131.7 g/km and Hyundai now has the fourth-lowest average CO2 figure (down by 9.9% in one year).

Jay Nagley from www.cleangreencars.co.uk commented "The fact that two mainstream car manufacturers have now met the target means that no major car company has an excuse if it cannot reach 130 g/km by 2012."

In terms of absolute tonnes of CO2 saved, Ford continues to have the largest reduction, with just over 30,000 tonnes saved in 2009. The calculation is based on an average saving per Ford of 7.61 g/km multiplied by 316,000 sales in 2009, multiplied by the average mileage in the UK (13,000 km).

However, Jay Nagley went on to give a word of warning about the figures. "There was a very sharp drop in 2009 because the scrappage incentive encouraged buyers to move to smaller cars. We calculate that half the 2009 improvement was due to the scrappage scheme alone. In 2010 car manufacturers are going to have to improve the performance of their cars markedly if they are to record any further reduction in overall CO2."