Source: European Parliament
The 2025 CO2 emission reduction targets for cars and vans were agreed by co-legislators and set in legislation in 2019[1], and they remained unchanged during the 2023 revision, providing manufacturers with sufficient time to develop compliance strategies.
The CO2 standards are designed to drive a gradual transition towards zero-emission mobility, and the 2025 milestone does not require full electrification.
More affordable electric vehicles, which have been announced by several manufacturers for 2025, can support a faster uptake of the technology. Other technologies can also contribute to reaching the targets, such as hybrids, plug-in hybrids or improvements in conventional vehicles. In addition, deploying smaller and more efficient vehicles can also contribute to reaching the CO2 targets.
The CO2 standards allow for stepwise improvements of the fleet average CO2 emissions. The previous standards were characterised by stagnating performances, followed by a significant reduction of CO2 emissions in 2020, as soon as the more stringent targets started to apply.
Some manufacturers argue that it would create competitive distortion to change the rules after they have invested to comply with them. With the rise in global market demand for electric vehicles[2], it is necessary to continue driving investments in technologies, infrastructure, skills and development of new value chains, in order to strengthen the competitive position of EU industry in the global transition towards zero-emission mobility.
In this context, it appears premature to draw conclusions on companies’ 2025 compliance situation at this stage.