German cars are word leaders in fuel saving
The German automotive industry has committed itself to fuel consumption reductions several times and often exceeded its promises. The most economic vehicles (3.3 litres per 100 km) are already offered by German manufacturers today. More than 77 German car models fall below the 5 litre threshold and fuel savings are still a key objective for development engineers.
A further reduction of the fuel consumptions implies substantial challenges for the automotive industry’s innovativity. However it will continue to contribute to the CO2 reduction in the traffic sector. The holistic approach of the European Commission must be considered in this context: With its integrated approach, the commission strives for a higher CO2 emission reduction with simultaneously reduced costs. Combined, coordinated and cross-sectoral activities will be critical in this context.
The automotive industry already has engaged in several commitments for reducing the fuel consumption. In a first engagement, the industry promised the Federal Minister of Economics to reduce the fuel consumption of the passenger cars and station wagons sold in Germany by 15% between 1978 and 1985. Though the fuel consumption slightly increased in the second half of the eighties, the target was even exceeded thanks to substantial efforts.
The 1995 commitment to reduce the fuel consumption of all car passengers and station wagons put into circulation by 25 percent as compared to 1990 by 2005 was equally successful. This success could have even been bigger if there hadn’t been countervailing tasks to be completed. Numerous legal and paralegal requirements led to higher average weights of the cars and therefore to a physically-induced higher consumption, mainly caused by more stringent exterior noise provision and the new Euro 3 and Euro 4 standards for air pollution control. All this as well as the introduction of the diesel particulate filter required higher fuel consumption.
Last but not least, consumer expectations affect the fuel consumption. This attitude has changed essentially in the past 20 years. Today, we experience a higher demand for combined vehicles and other room concepts. Comfort features, like air-condition, electric window lifts, electric seats, automatic gearbox, etc. are common today, but also cause an increased consumption.
The fuel-saving process is still continuing
Minimised fuel consumption – this outstanding development objective of the automotive engineers is also an important competition parameter. Although the remaining reduction potential continues to decrease, it is however exploited. Current vehicle engines e.g. consume 2 litres per 100 km less than at the beginning of the nineties. At the same time, the performance per litre fuel has been improved by around 60 percent. One could literally experience these successes while driving. While one litre of fuel enabled driving about 9 kilometres in 1978, a German car today can drive more than 15 kilometres with the same amount of fuel, which corresponds to an increase of two thirds.
German automotive manufacturers offer the most economic cars. These cars consume only 3.3 litres per 100 kilometres and therefore emit as little as 88 grams per kilometre. Another 388 German car models consume less than 6.5 litres per 100 kilometres. The current registration rate for such vehicles is 50 percent, i.e. five times more vehicles than five years ago.
More than 77 German car models fall below the 5-litre threshold
In addition, the domestic sales volume of especially economic vehicles with a consumption of less than 5 l/100 km or a CO2 emission of less than 130 g/km could be increased by 57 percent in the last year, while importers experienced a sales volume decrease of 4 percent. This development shows that German manufacturers are not only successfully penetrating the premium car segment but are also leading technical innovators in all vehicle categories.
The luxury class even experienced disproportional fuel reductions. And in spite of this success, the dynamical fuel-saving process will still continue for a long time.
A comparison points out the importance of a reduction of the overall fleet consumption. Replacing 50 car models with the highest fuel consumption would reduce the fleet consumption by 0.4 percent. Achieving a consumption reduction of 20 percent for 50 best-sold models would lead to fleet consumption reduction of 14 percent. Therefore, improving the efficiency for any type of car – whether compact car or family van – is the objective.
The German automotive industry is ahead of the competition in terms of CO2 reduction. German manufacturers achieved a significantly stronger CO2 reduction (-2 percent to 172 g/km) than importers (-1.3 percent to 165 g/km). Japanese (-0.6 percent) and French (-0.8 percent) manufacturers achieved the lowest reductions.