Most car makers fail to meet Australia’s voluntary emissions targets

Two years since admitting the Australian transport industry needs to cut down on polluting the atmosphere, just one out of three carmakers have managed to achieve the country’s voluntary targets.

In the wake of federal government failure to regulate vehicle emissions – making the country one of the very few in the world not to have them – the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) in 2020 implemented a voluntary vehicle emissions standard.

The non-compulsory standards were criticised at the time as being too weak, but it seems it is still too much for most car makers to achieve.

The voluntary targets called for a reduction of fleet emissions sold by carmakers by 2030 to 100 grams of CO2 per kilometre, and under 145g/km for heavy SUVs and light commercials (mostly utes and vans). They included Carry Forward Credit and Debts.

By contrast, in the EU, carmakers are already required to beat an average of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre. If a carmaker doesn’t meet its targets it has to pay massive fines, a fact that is seeing electric models prioritised for those markets ahead of Australia.

The latest results released by the FCAI on Tuesday shows just how badly car makers have performed in Australia.

Though industry-wide figures released in late March showed a slight reduction in CO2 emissions (146.5gm CO2/km, down slightly from the 2021 target of 150gm CO2/km,) most of the 39 brands included in the passenger car segment missed their own stipulated targets.

Of those that did reduce their emissions, it was the best-selling carmaker in Australia – Toyota – and a range of luxury carmakers that managed to come in under brand-specific targets.

Toyota beat its fleet emissions targets by 36%, achieving 96.7gm CO2/km no doubt due to its growing hybrid offerings.

Mercedes-Benz came next on the list, achieving 30% below its targets at 158.4gm CO2/km for its small van segment, a 7% below passenger vehicle targets to reach 165.2gm CO2/km, and 20% its commercial van and ute segment to reach 174.7gm CO2/km.

Volvo beat its target by 26.3% to achieve 132gm CO2/km fleetwide for passenger cars and 10% below its targets for commercial vehicles to reach an average of 169.4gm CO2/km.

Porsche, Lexus, and Mini also came in under their brand-specific targets by more than 20%, reaching 136.1, 135.3 and 105.5 gm CO2/km respectively.

However, out of the top ten carmakers – equalling more than 320,000 cars sold – six brands saw their fleet emissions miss brand targets.

Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, MG, Mitsubishi and Nissan – all Asia-based carmakers – missed targets by anything from 18gm CO2/km, or 12%, in the case of Hyundai to 4gm CO2/km, or 2.6% for Mazda.

The Hyundai figures are especially damning because the brand has high visibility and decent sales for EVs (compared to other legacy carmakers) but this is clearly not making a dent in its fleetwide emissions.

You can see the figures for yourself in this sortable chart compiled by The Driven.