Environmental Issues

BMW CEO raps EU calls for stiffer car emissions goals

May 14, 2013 13:25 CET
BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer criticized calls by European Union lawmakers for tougher fuel efficiency goals by 2025, warning their demands would hurt the European industry in competition with the United States and China.... Read More »

 

Speed limit for new vans backed by EU Parliament committee

May 8, 2013 06:01 CET
The top speed of vans in the EU should be electronically limited to 120kph (75 mph), according to a proposal backed by the European Parliament's environment committee.... Read More »

 

Opel to cut CO2 by 27% with new powertrains

May 3, 2013 06:01 CET
Opel/Vauxhall says new powertrains will cut its average CO2 output 27 percent by 2020, helping the automaker comply with tougher EU emissions regulations. With 13 new engines, Opel will renew 80 percent of its engine portfolio between 2012 and 2016.... Read More »

 

VW plans fuel-saving 10-speed transmission

May 1, 2013 06:01 CET
Volkswagen is developing a 10-speed dual-clutch transmission to help reduce fuel consumption, CEO Martin Winterkorn said. The transmission is one of a number of drivetrain technologies that the automaker is focusing on for the mid- and long term, he said.... Read More »

 

Tenneco's Q1 profits rise as revenue falls slightly

2:36 pm U.S. ET | April 29, 2013
Tenneco, the supplier of emission-control and ride-control systems, today reported higher first-quarter profits. Adjusted net income during the first three months of the year was $44 million, or 72 cents per diluted share, up 7 percent from adjusted net income of $41 million, or 66 cents per diluted share, the company said.... Read More »

 

EU politicians back compromise on car emission targets

April 25, 2013 09:07 CET
EU politicians have backed a compromise deal to reduce car emissions to 95g/km starting in 2020, while calling for moves to further reduce this to 68g/km to 78g/km by 2025. The agreement will also allow manufacturers to claim supercredits to partly offset the requirement for some models but sets strict limits on the number. The proposal still has to be voted on by the full European Parliament and needs the endorsement of member states.... Read More »

 

DOUGLAS A. BOLDUC

Green group spills oil; makes confusing point on CO2

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 23, 2013
Green lobby group T&E has released a YouTube video that it hopes will put pressure on lawmakers to prevent them from weakening Europe's passenger-car CO2 target of 95 grams per kilometer for 2020. The trouble is that the video's message is difficult to understand.... Read More »

 

BRAD WERNLE

It's hard to see where China's love affair with cars will lead

3:07 pm U.S. ET | April 18, 2013
If you hang around anyone connected with the Chinese auto industry for any length of time, you'll hear mind-boggling numbers about the industry's rosy future. But looking out my hotel room window here, I have to wonder just where China's love affair with the automobile and industrial progress will take us.... Read More »

 

California regulator scolds carmakers on EV petition

12:25 pm U.S. ET | April 16, 2013
Automakers are undermining the progress they're making in expanding the market for electric cars and other zero-emission vehicles by petitioning against California's mandates, a state regulator said today.... Read More »

 

GABE NELSON

Will CAFE push carmakers to eBay?

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 15, 2013
Imagine that one car company is struggling with new fuel economy standards and another car company could help, for the right price. Could they strike a deal? At first blush, probably not. But auto executives will be thinking about going to the negotiating table over the next few years Gabe Nelson is an Automotive News staff reporter.... Read More »

 

Startup company envisions auctions for CAFE credits

11:36 am U.S. ET | April 9, 2013
Dale Kardos' startup company wants to help car companies buy and sell CAFE credits, which have the potential to tilt the competitive balance of the auto industry toward companies that sell more fuel-efficient cars. Experts say companies with large stockpiles of credits, such as Toyota and Honda, could use them to sell fuel-thirstier vehicles than would otherwise be allowed or simply save them for a rainy day. But they could also sell credits to rivals.... Read More »

 

TONS OF CREDITS

As Obama's CO2 regulations get tough, automakers -- especially Japanese -- have already earned a big cushion

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
As automakers ratchet down the fuel consumption of their cars to meet tougher federal standards, the top Japanese automakers already have an enormous head start from credits they earned since the 2009 model year.... Read More »

 

For Tesla's EVs, credits turn into dollars

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
Based on Tesla's fuel economy during the 2010 and 2011 model years, the company earned 49,772 EPA credits. The company says it is selling those credits to other automakers.... Read More »

 

Loopholes and the mpg game

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
Car companies have a long record of working the system to inflate their fuel economy ratings. The EPA's new program has broad potential for similar maneuvering.... Read More »

 

How new CO2 credits differ from NHTSA's

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
The new EPA credits differ from credits that automakers accumulated under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's long-standing CAFE standards.... Read More »

 

EPA proposes tougher tailpipe, gasoline rules

6:46 pm U.S. ET | March 28, 2013
The EPA proposed a package of rules today that includes cleaner gasoline and stricter limits on pollution from the tailpipes of cars, despite objections from the oil industry. The rules, known as Tier 3, have been supported by car companies because they would bring federal standards into alignment with those of California, where gasoline must have a lower sulfur content to help reduce tailpipe emissions.... Read More »

 

GABE NELSON

Why automakers took up ethanol with the Supreme Court

2:07 pm U.S. ET | March 26, 2013
In a slow trickle over the past year, the first gas stations have started carrying E15, a blend of gasoline that includes up to 15 percent ethanol. Automakers say the fuel could harm older engines, which were not built to handle so much ethanol. But they have had no luck convincing the EPA, which has approved the fuel for use in cars and trucks built after the 2001 model year.... Read More »

 

SUPPLIERS

Bosch will sell or close its money-losing solar energy unit

March 25, 2013 12:54 CET
Bosch said it will sell or shut down its money-losing solar energy operations. The supplier has lost 2.4 billion euros ($3.10 billion) since it created the solar energy unit in 2008.... Read More »

 

GREEN CARS

EU needs stricter car CO2 standards to keep driving affordable, consumer body says

March 25, 2013 11:52 CET
High oil prices will make driving a car less and less affordable unless the European Union's vehicle industry faces more stringent emissions limits than those the European Commission is battling to enforce, the body representing European consumers said.... Read More »

 

GREEN CARS

EU industry boss defies German pressure on car coolants

March 21, 2013 11:30 CET
The European Union's Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani say he will enforce new rules that ban extremely potent greenhouse gases in car air-cooling systems, defying opposition from the German government and the country's automakers.... Read More »

 

GREEN CARS

EU politicians back compromise on car emissions targets

March 20, 2013 12:47 CET
The European Union's industry committee has backed a compromise that would give carmakers limited leeway in the race to cut CO2 emissions in line with targets while rejecting German calls for more lenient rules.... Read More »

 

Tougher CO2 emission limits could get EU on road to growth, study says

March 18, 2013 06:01 CET
Proposed European legislation to cut CO2 emissions from Europe's new cars to 95g/km could create about 400,000 jobs and save tens of billions of euros in fuel costs, a study said. The European Parliament will vote on the proposals on Tuesday.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

New steels fight aluminum to oust heavy metal from cars

8:02 pm U.S. ET | March 17, 2013
New high-tech products mean steel is now winning battles in a long war to defend its share of the auto market against lighter aluminum, as automakers have to shed weight to meet emissions standards.... Read More »

 

Norway shows the way with EVs, but at what cost?

March 16, 2013 06:01 CET
Norway's market for pure electric cars has in its very success shown the severe drawbacks to a model that relies on public subsidies worth as much as $8,200 per car, every year. Carmakers such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, PSA and Tesla Motors see Norway and its 10,000 battery-powered vehicles as a reason for optimism in otherwise gloomy terrain.... Read More »

 

PSA mirrors VW, readies megaplatform to cut costs

March 15, 2013 06:01 CET
PSA is planning to produce its compact, mid-sized and SUV models on a common platform that also is likely to underpin models made by alliance partner GM. The struggling French automaker is looking to borrow from Volkswagen's money-saving megaplatform strategy as a way to stem massive financial losses that have forced staff cuts and a planned factory closure in France.... Read More »