This report is the fourth T&E has published on the annual progress Europe’s major car manufacturers have made in reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of new cars.
2008, the year covered by this report, was special in several respects:
In the second half of 2008, the global recession took hold, and car sales were reduced as a result. But although the effect was clearly noticeable, it was far from a ‘collapse’. That impression has perhaps been created by exaggerated media coverage of the financial crisis and carmakers eager to receive government support in the form of subsidies. The reality is that EU15 car sales were less than 7% below the ten-year (1999-2008) average, and less than 2% below the twenty-year (1990- 2008) average. Government subsidies for new cars, to support sales, had not yet taken off in 2008. In that sense, 2008 was less unusual, in historical terms, than might have been expected.
The most recent progress made by carmakers is currently relevant in light of a similar follow-up proposal for light commercial vehicles (vans) that the European Commission is expected to announce in late September 2009.
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