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Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries announces voluntary CO2 Emissions Standard

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) today announced a new industry-led reporting system, the FCAI CO2 Emissions Standard, which sets out industry and brand CO2 emissions reduction targets at 2030.

The new Standard is a long-term objective which recognises that different brands will follow different paths towards the target depending on their individual model cycles. For this reason, and to contribute to Australia’s commitment to the Paris agreement, the Standard is set across a ten-year period to 2030.

Significantly, the industry acknowledges the pathway to the new target may not be without impediment and it is fully expected that individual manufacturers may not always record annual improvement. In this instance, the end goal of meeting the 2030 target remains the key focus.

An industry driven scheme, the FCAI Standard aligns with manufacturers’ traditional position of bringing the best possible products, with the latest safety and drive-train technologies, to the Australian market.

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said the initiative is supported by more than40 major automotive brands and aims to provide certainty to manufacturers to enable them to confidently plan future product for the Australian market.

“The intent behind this new Standard is to ensure automotive manufacturers can continue to do what they do best – and that is to bring the latest, safest, and most fuel-efficient vehicles to the Australian market.

“The FCAI strongly supports a comprehensive approach to addressing motor vehicle emissions that includes fuel quality standards, the introduction of Euro 6 and the introduction of a challenging but realistic, achievable and market relevant CO2 standard.

“In this context, the FCAI Standard has been based on internationally mandated practices, including those from Europe and the USA, while still recognising the unique characteristics of the Australian market,” Mr Weber said.

Developed following consultation with brands, industry statistical and analytical experts, and all levels of Government, the FCAI Standard will first be reported in early 2021.

How the Standard works:

The Standard will calculate industry and brand CO2 targets on a sales-weighted average mass per unit basis against sales recorded in VFACTS, the industry data source. The results will be divided into separate reporting categories - MA (Passenger Cars and Light SUVs) and MC + NA (Heavy SUVs and Light Commercial Vehicles) in line with international practice.

Reporting will be in line with the manufacturers’ CO2 emissions performance reporting undertaken by the European Environment Agency and will allow the inclusion of Carry

Forward Credits and/or Debits which are a feature of the USA regulation.

From 2020 to 2030, credits will be carried forward for up to five years, including those earned from 2020 to 2023. From 2024 to 2030, debits will be recorded and carried forward for up to five years. Prior to 2024, no debits will be carried forward.

Standard Targets

The FCAI CO2 Standard is a stretch target and is in-line with international trends.

Over the past 15 years, Australia’s automotive industry has achieved strong reductions in vehicle emissions through the research and development investments of parent companies in the United States, Europe and Asia.

As at December 2019, FCAI members had already achieved a 24.9 per cent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels.

The targeted reduction between 2020 and 2030 is:

  • MA (Passenger Cars and Light SUVs) – an average of 4.0 per cent reduction per annum
  • MC + NA (Heavy SUVs and Light Commercial Vehicles)– an average of 3.0 per cent reduction per annum.

It is estimated that MA vehicles will, on average, have CO2 emissions under 100 grams per kilometre and MC + NA vehicles under 145 grams per kilometre by 2030.

Different brands will progress at different rates, depending on their model cycles.