Global Commercial Vehicle Meeting 2014

Tokyo, 4 November 2014 – European, North American, and Japanese heavy-duty vehicle and engine manufacturers call for further promotion and cooperation of regulatory harmonisation for fuel efficiency improvements and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The world’s leading manufacturers of heavy-duty commercial trucks and engines called for further progress in regulatory harmonisation and closer cooperation among European, North American, and Japanese regulators in order to improve energy efficiency and reduce fuel consumption associated with on-road freight transport.
Meeting in Tokyo, the chief executives of more than 10 global truck and engine manufacturers discussed key issues facing their industry, including fuel efficiency improvements, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, safety, diesel fuel specifications, and issues related to heavy-duty engine and vehicle regulation and certification.
Chaired by Mr. Susumu Hosoi, President of ISUZU Motors Limited and Chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association’s Heavy Vehicle Committee, this was the chief executives’ twelfth meeting to discuss global issues and recommend solutions to the critical challenges facing commercial vehicle manufacturers.
Summarising the meeting, Mr. Hosoi stated, “Heavy-duty engine and vehicle manufacturers are making clear progress in exhaust emission reductions and fuel efficiency improvements with sustained efforts. We confirmed that accelerating efforts aimed at harmonisation of test procedures and standards are needed to further advance the global objective of greenhouse gas reductions. We also confirmed the need to continue to discuss safety measures. The best approach to reach this objective is for governments and industry to work together.”
Advancing the progress made at previous meetings, the chief executives discussed issues related to:
- Fuel efficiency improvements and reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;
- Safety measures;
- The development of a certification procedure for heavy-duty hybrids;
- Harmonisation of diesel fuel specifications and regulations; and
- Adoption of the worldwide heavy-duty emissions certification procedure (WHDC).
Points agreed on at this twelfth gathering of the industry leaders included:
- Early action on the introduction of globally harmonised fuel efficiency metrics and test procedures for heavy-duty vehicles;
- The need for further discussions on safety measures;
- To promote global harmonisation of heavy-duty hybrid certification procedures;
- The need for further discussions on diesel fuel specifications; and
- The need for global cooperation in expanding WHDC.
The leaders of the assembled companies a) emphasised the need for concerted global action for GHG emissions reductions; b) agreed to work with their governments not only to expand WHDC but also to support the United Nations in the establishment of a globally harmonised hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) procedure for use in heavy-duty hybrid certification; c) referred to the progress made so far in UN discussions on the development of global diesel fuel specifications, and d) confirmed the need for further discussions on safety measures.
Agreeing to advise their regional secretariats to continue the activities of the joint experts meetings, they also affirmed that trans-national/trans-regional cooperative efforts between industry and governments toward global harmonization can serve to promote improvements for customers and the global environment.
Also attending this meeting were representatives of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, ACEA; the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, EMA; and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, JAMA.
Erik Jonnaert, ACEA Secretary General, extended an invitation to the chief executives to hold their 2015 meeting in Europe.
Notes for editors
For further information regarding the meeting, please contact:
- Europe: Cara McLaughlin ACEA +32 2 738 73 45
- US: Joe Suchecki EMA +1 312 929 1978
- Japan: Yoshihiro Yano JAMA +81 3 5405 6126
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) is the Brussels-based trade association of the 14 major car, van, truck and bus producers in Europe.
- The ACEA commercial vehicle members are DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ford Trucks, Iveco Group, MAN Truck & Bus, Scania, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, 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.
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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
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total