New European CO2 standards may force Porsche production out of the EU
Porsches may be getting cleaner, and even adding hybrids to their lineup, but according to CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, there are limits to what they can do. In a German newspaper interview, over the weekend he was highly critical of new EU proposals to require all cars to emit less than 130g/km of CO2. He stated the Cayenne hybrid will get fuel economy up to 26.1 mpg, but the new CO2 standard would require 39.2mpg and that apparently just isn't realistic for Porsche or other luxury carmakers. If the new standard becomes a requirement for all cars, they would have to move production out of the EU, and only small cars would continue to be built there.
Compare Wiedeking's comments to Porsche's official announcement from the weekend.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TDIMeister 10:04AM (3/06/2007)
I see Wiedeking's comment as nothing more than codified political tough-talk to threaten politicians to back off the CO2 legislation under the cover of shipping jobs out of the EU.
One other thing: it doesn't matter where the cars are made, but rather where the cars are consumed and more importantly where the companies are incorporated that will fall under the CO2 legislation. Porsche can move all of its production out of Germany (FWIW, every Cayenne is assembled in Slovakia) and build cars in the US, Russia, heck even Dubai, but as long as it is a company incorporated in Germany, and its cars sold in the EU, it would be bound under the proposed legislation.
I hope the politicians will grow spines and not fall for this. There are many alternatives how EVERY and ANY car company can meet 120-130 g/km CO2. One is based on a carbon cap-and-trade system where you define a cap of, say, 120 g/km and owners pay market prices (nothing to do with government nor taxes) for credits on CO2 emitted over and above this cap for every kilometer driven. Drivers who own cars which emit less than this cap receive and can sell their credits. This credit can be embedded in the cost of fuel since there is a known carbon content for any given quantity of fuel. This scheme is not discriminatory to the origin of the cars since it would be applied equally to every car.
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Scatter 11:02AM (3/06/2007)
I have to fully agree with you there Mr Meister. The politicians need to stand up to what will doubtless become ferocious lobbying. But isn't this 130g/km an industry-wide average, not a top limit?
Anyway, what's stopping them from producing a 911EV???
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Howard Lee Harkness 12:12PM (3/06/2007)
Or, maybe Porsche could just go EV, like Tesla.
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Glenn 1:21PM (3/06/2007)
I think Porsche would be essentially saying "OK you don't want us to produce these vehicles, yet we wish to produce them for other countries - we might as well build them where they are being sold - and screw you and the jobs here in Europe" - yep - it would be a means of saying "we don't have to play - we can take our ball and go home to some other place".
Hey, Porsche? Northwestern Michigan has a beautiful scenery, good "Porsche" roads (the PCA comes up here all the time) and due to "Detroit Inc" we have high unemployement and a lot of savvy guys and gals willing and able to work for a wage significantly UNDER what you pay the minions in Germany, so HOW ABOUT IT?
Porsche Manufacturing LLC, Traverse City, Michigan?
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TDIMeister 3:47PM (3/06/2007)
Do it, do IT, DO IT! I triple dare ya. :D
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TDIMeister 5:17PM (3/06/2007)
#2, you're correct, it's an industry-averaged limit, not an absolute cap that says no vehicle is allowed over this 120-130 g/km limit figure. Porsche can continue making Cayennes, etc., to its heart's content, but it must cooperate with its industry peers to stay under the average cap. How they do it is up to them, whether by some sort of carbon credit trading system amongst the manufacturers or passing those costs to the consumer.
Naturally, the argument will be to villify yet another "tax" and expense to the consumer. But I argue that the technological and market solutions exist if the stake holders spend their energies on those solutions rather than belly-aching and lobbying.
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EEGeek 10:51AM (3/07/2007)
Perhaps another reason that Porsche is interested in acquiring control of VWAG? Use VW/Skoda/Seat to provide the lower the overall fleet emissions and let Porsche be Porsche?
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