ACEA

European Car Industry has Long-standing Environmental Track Record

Technology Leaders

The European vehicle manufacturers are technology leaders and have a long-standing track record in improving the environmental performance of their cars, trucks, buses and coaches. On an annual basis, the European automotive industry spends over Euro 26 billion, or about 5% of their turnover in Research & Development. In doing so, the sector is the largest private investor in R&D in the EU.

Environmental Track Record

A large share of these annual investments is directed towards environment-related improvements or features. Based on a deeply rooted tradition of innovation and technological skills, the industry has:

 
• Drastically reduced the impact of motor vehicles on the quality of air. One hundred of today’s cars produce the same amount of pollutant elements, such as nitrogen oxide, as an average car built in the 1970s. In the last 20 years, the amount of local pollutants has been decreased by a factor 20.
 
•  Made tremendous progress in the recycling of its products with the aim to achieve the very ambitious target rate set out by the EU. The manufacturers have also significantly modernised and improved all our industrial processes, in terms of waste management and savings of water and energy;
 
• Reduced the noise levels of motor vehicles 90 % since 1970;
 
• The industry is clearly committed to reducing CO2 emissions from cars and has signed a voluntary agreement to contribute to the EU Kyoto protocol objectives already in 1998. This agreement has, through improved vehicle technology only, reduced CO2 emissions from cars by an average 13%. Between 1995 and 2008, ACEA members will have introduced more than 50 new technologies into their vehicles.

Coordinated and Competitive Efforts

Part of the industry’s research is being done through EUCAR (http://www.eucar.be/ ), the pre-competitive research association of the European vehicle manufacturers. But most efforts and achievements are part of ambitious projects, launched by the individual manufacturers.

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