German manufacturers expected to strongly resist legislation for 120g EU CO2 norm

A report in the Wall Street Journal of 22 January quoted DaimlerChrysler's CEO Dr Diete Zetcher commenting on the European Environment Commissioner's recently announced plan to legislate for an average EU car fleet CO2 emissions level of 120 g/km: "This industry and the millions of jobs it provides cannot survive if a 120g/km limit from 2010 is decreed," he is said to have warned, in words that reports have said are echoed by the German EC Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen.

The paper suggests that European manufacturers will resist strongly any compulsory CO2 norm of a comparable level, with particularly stiff resistance expected in Germany, whose domestic car brands are particularly skewed towards relatively large, high-consumption premium models. One in seven jobs in the EU25 is said to depend on car manufacturing.

The European Commission is expected to confirm plans for legislation on car CO2 emissions on 24 January, in the light of the certain failure of all but Renault, PSA and Fiat to comply with the ACEA's voluntary CO2 target of a 140 g/km fleet average by 2008.