Carbon Footprints of niche car brands..

[ozpont]

A small but significant UK  /  USA story here.. to watch unfold now as we head to the "ban everything"  legistation on carbon trading.. now that there is MAJOR MONEY to be made .. in Carbon Trading.. as against against actually doing anything more then giving money to people ... or tax payers money to somebody .. and calling that.. significant progress.....

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EU Nations Try to Steer Auto CO2 Caps

By STEPHEN POWER in Frankfurt, DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS in Paris and GABRIEL KAHN in Rome
December 13, 2007; Page A14 / WSJ

The United Kingdom has asked European regulators to mold auto-emissions caps in favor of the U.K.-based Jaguar and Land Rover brands, as Europe's governments move to defend their car makers.

In a letter to EU regulators reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, three British government ministers asked that the EU's looming limits on carbon dioxide be shaped in a way that doesn't disproportionately affect niche auto makers, such as Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar and Land Rover brands, which are up for sale. They warned the brands could be forced out of business, depending on how new rules are written.

• Seeking Exceptions: U.K. ministers asked that the EU's looming emissions limits take into account niche auto makers like Jaguar or Land Rover.

• Sticker Shock: They warn tough limits could force the two brands, which Ford is selling, out of business.
• Continental Divide: European countries, whose auto makers have differing emissions levels, are moving to shape policy.

The letter, dated Dec. 4, also warned that new regulations "could genuinely threaten the very viability" of smaller U.K.-based car makers, such as Morgan Motor Co. and Aston Martin, unless they are exempted from regulation altogether.

Uncertainty over the plans has been a particular source of worry for companies bidding to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover. Ford has put the brands up for sale as it tries to refocus on its North America business.

The last-minute lobbying efforts come as the European Commission prepares to publish details of its plan to cut average emissions from new cars in Europe, possibly as early as next week. The regulations are part of an effort to limit carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming.

The U.K. letter joins a flurry of others from governments worried that the way the new rules are written could have a major impact on the competitiveness of their car industries. The contest already has broadly split EU countries into north and south, pitting Germany against France and Italy.

In separate letters to EU regulators over the past six weeks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi have urged the EU to adopt emissions regulations that would be relatively flat across model lines, regardless of how much cars weigh. Such regulations would be somewhat easy for Italian and French car makers -- such as Fiat SpA, Renault SA and PSA Peugeot-Citroën SA -- because their model lineups are largely skewed toward small vehicles that emit low levels of CO2.

Germany is calling for targets that account for differences in vehicle segments. German car makers say limits should be more lenient as vehicles get heavier, reflecting the skew of their own fleets toward more powerful cars with relatively high emissions levels.

The broad outlines of the commission's plan are well known: By 2012, regulators want to reduce the average level of CO2 emitted by Europe's new-car fleet to 120 grams per kilometer, compared with roughly 160 now. The commission has said it will hold car makers accountable for reducing the industry fleet average to 130 grams, with a further reduction of 10 grams coming from "other technological improvements" and increased use of biofuels.

What isn't clear is how the commission will apply its regulations in a marketplace that ranges from tiny hatchbacks like the Fiat 500 to sport-utility vehicles like the Porsche Cayenne.

EU officials have said they are likely to adopt a weight-based system, with more-lenient targets along a curve as cars get heavier. But officials haven't specified how steep it will be, or how they will enforce the system.

To reduce CO2 emissions as quickly as EU officials would like, sales of some of Europe's heaviest, most-profitable vehicles would have to fall 10% -- a step that would cost Germany's BMW AG roughly €500 million ($732.6 million) a year, according to an analysis by Citigroup Inc.

The U.K. ministers wrote that Jaguar and Land Rover may soon be "independent" and that the brands "would be disproportionately impacted by the legislation simply due to the nature of their limited product portfolio."

It would be wrong to penalize brands "simply because they specialize in a particular type of vehicle and therefore cannot offset their emissions internally," wrote British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly and John Hutton, secretary of state for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

To avoid "artificially distorting the market," the ministers argue that car makers with sales of more than 10,000 vehicles a year should be allowed to choose between having to reduce their fleet's emissions by a certain fixed percentage, or committing to targets that would be based on certain attributes of their vehicles, such as weight.

For car makers with sales of less than 10,000 vehicles annually -- such as Morgan and Aston Martin -- the ministers argue that no statutory CO2 limits should be set, because those companies make up a tiny fraction of the European car market.