Emission regulations around the world seem to be getting stricter by the day but proposed regulations in Europe have put some of the world’s premier sports car makers on edge. The EU has proposed a 120 grams per km emissions standard by 2012 which could put some automakers out of business.
If the 120 grams per km standard is adopted, it would be virtually impossible for automakers like Ferrari , Lamborghini , Maserati , Aston Martin and Porsche to comply with the new rules. For comparison, the feather-light and relatively fuel efficient Lotus Elise S emits 196 g/km, whereas the segment average is in the 200 to 500 g/km range.
Most of the elite automakers are lobbying for niche protection – which allows any automaker that produces less than 10,000 vehicles per year to individually negotiate with the EU – but that classification looks like it might be a bit of a stretch, especially for German and Italian automakers. Since marques like Ferrari and Maserati ; Lamborghini and Porsche are actually owned by larger companies – Fiat and VW, respectively – the EU lumps their production with their larger parent companies.
“We are committed to reduce CO2 emissions heavily in the next years so we are doing whatever is possible without destroying the DNA of the brand to bring them down to a much better level than today,” Lamborghini Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann told Reuters. “But you have to understand, it will never meet the 120 g or 130 g per km.”
Winkelmann also contests that exotic automakers display Europe to the world and should be considered a “species to protect.”
Another fact the EU is taking into consideration is that most exotic sports car are driven very rarely. That combined with their limited production numbers means they only account for 0.3 percent of EU total car emissions, according to Reuters.
With electric and hydrogen powertrains still a good number of years away from mass production and acceptance in the supercar world, some compromises will have to be made between the EU and the elite automakers if the breed is to stick around for the foreseeable future.
