Toyota is the European leader in reducing emissions

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) continues to lead emissions reductions in European markets , reporting the lowest fleet CO2 emissions of just 103.6 g/km in 2012. According to an annual report published last week by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA), the manufacturer's fleet average CO2 emissions fell by 5.7 g/km compared to 2011, representing a year-on-year decrease of 5% . According to TME 's recent results, CO2 emissions are a full 24.3 g/km lower than the specific target for this car manufacturer set by the European Commission for the 2012 calendar year.

As part of the gradual implementation of the emissions reduction program, the European Commission is currently calculating fleet emissions based on 65% of the most environmentally friendly registered cars of the given manufacturer . When calculating emissions in the next two years, a gradually increasing percentage of the most environmentally friendly cars will be considered – 75% in 2013 and 80% in 2014 – and then from 2015 it will start to include 100% of cars.

According to a published report, over the past 12 years, CO ₂ emissions of TME cars have dropped by a full 29% . The entire vehicle fleet (100%) showed average emissions of 121.9 g/km . In contrast, during the same period, the average fleet emissions of all cars sold on European markets fell by only 23% . TME has steadily maintained its industry leadership with the highest percentage of cars producing CO ₂ emissions below 100 g/km, which is true for a full 23% of the cars in the manufacturer's fleet.

Customers in European markets can currently choose from 11 Toyota and Lexus models with CO ₂ emissions below 100 g/km – six of which even produce less than 90 g/km . These are: Toyota iQ (99 g/km), AYGO (99 g/km), Yaris Hybrid (79 g/km), Auris (99 g/km), Auris Hybrid (84 g/km), Auris Hybrid Touring Sports (85 g/km), Prius (89 g/km), Prius+ (96 g/km), Prius Plug-in Hybrid (49 g/km), Lexus CT 200h (87 g/km) and IS 300h (99 g/km).

The European Environment Agency (EEA) also confirmed that TME 's leading position in the field of reducing emissions can be partly attributed to the manufacturer's growing range of hybrid models, which include six Toyota models and six Lexus models.

If we consider all European markets, the sales of TME hybrid cars in the first 9 months of 2013 already exceeded the sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid cars in the same period in 2012 (78,380 cars) by 47% . So far this year, 115,032 Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles have been sold here, with particularly good results for the Yaris Hybrid and Auris Hybrid models.

Since the introduction of the Prius model on the European market in 2000, the total sales of hybrid cars here have reached the number of 620,588 units (value as of the end of September 2013).

The share of sold hybrid models of the Toyota and Lexus brands in the European region and surrounding countries has grown to almost 20% of total sales since the beginning of this year, so 2013 will represent another successful step by this manufacturer to reduce CO ₂ emissions on the European continent.

Table – Average fleet CO ₂ emissions in 2012 ⁽²⁾

Source: Toyota