Environmental impact of car production strongly reduced over last decade
Brussels, 12 July 2018 – The latest data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) shows that auto makers have significantly reduced the environmental impact of manufacturing over the last decade, even though the number of cars produced increased from 11.9 million in 2013 to 17 million in 2017.
The new figures, recently published in ACEA’s Automobile Industry Pocket Guide, show that total CO2 emissions from car production fell by nearly 24% since 2008. This is significant, as manufacturers succeeded in decoupling CO2 emissions from production growth, for instance by sourcing energy from renewable and low-carbon sources.
In addition, for each car produced over the last decade, water consumption was reduced by some 31%. This was achieved notably by using recirculation technologies for the re-use of water and other long-term strategies for limiting water consumption.
As cars have become equipped with ever more features to make them cleaner, safer and smarter, vehicle production has become more complex. Despite this, the energy consumption per car produced decreased by almost 16% over the last 10 years. The amount of waste generated per car produced went down by nearly 14% during the same period.
“This positive track record demonstrates the automobile industry’s strong commitment to reducing the environmental impact of both the use of its vehicles as well as production processes,” stated ACEA Secretary General, Erik Jonnaert. “It is part of an ongoing and multifaceted strategy, which all European manufacturers adhere to.”
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 14 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group.
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/.
Contact:
- Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.auto, +32 485 88 66 47.
- Ben Kennard, Content Editor and Press Manager, bk@acea.auto, +32 487 39 21 82
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About the EU automobile industry
- 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €374.6 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €79.5 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Almost 8% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €58.8 billion in R&D spending annually, 32% of EU total