Observers of progress on car emissions reductions are watching carefully to see if Porsche’s acquisition of a majority stake in Volkswagen could lead to Porsche claiming ‘its’ vehicles are leaner without the company doing anything.
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Under American rules, Ford reports Mazda fuel economy data as its own, even though it has only a minority stake in the Japanese car company, and DaimlerChrysler used to do the same with Mitsubishi. Porsche is currently struggling to meet an average fuel economy standard under US law, and the motor trade magazine Automotive News has been speculating that Porsche may be seeking to merge its data with VW’s to achieve a legal average in the USA. • Porsche’s environment manager Herbert Ampferer says it is ‘impossible’ for the company to meet the proposed EU CO2 reduction target without ‘abandoning its market identify’.
European cities and civil society groups have warned that accepting lower US car standards will see more dangerous vehicles flood into Europe
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