Published 3/22/2018 13: 06: 15CET
MADRID, Mar. 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The average emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) of new cars sold in Spain rose in 2017 for the first time in ten years, up to 116 grams per kilometer traveled (115 grams in 2016), according to the Federation of Associations of Automotive Dealers (Faconauto).
Since 2007, the average emissions of new vehicles registered in Spain decreased year by year until 2016, when the new cars marketed averaged 115 grams per kilometer traveled, one gram less than in 2017.
The dealers’ association attributes this increase, first of all, to the “boom” in the sales of the small and medium-sized all-rounders, which last year accounted for 31.2% of the market, and whose average emissions are greater than those of other types of vehicles.
Also, the drop in the registrations of the cars equipped with diesel engines of last generation, which emit less carbon dioxide than gasoline, is another key that explains this variation, according to Faconauto.
“We need a turning point so that, effectively, we address the improvement of the environment, which must now focus on renewing the fleet, which must be led by the Government through some of the laws related to the automobile that is promoting and, in any case, by the expected change in the taxation of the car, which may be the most effective tool to accelerate the arrival on the roads of more efficient and safer cars, “said the president of Faconauto, Gerardo Pérez.
For its part, Faconauto emphasizes that, with the current reality of the market, where combustion engines dominate, diesel “will still have to play a key role” so that manufacturers meet the requirements of reducing average CO2 emissions that the European Union has set at 95 grams for the year 2021 and at 66 grams in 2030.
In this way, the employers believe it is “essential” that the discourse be ordered around the combustion engines and, “particularly”, in relation to diesel. In addition, it qualifies the debate that is being generated from social and political areas of “unrealistic”, and of not responding to the demands of consumers, and that is “artificially” accelerating its demise, which can be “counterproductive” to the common objective, “in which the sector is the first interested”, which is the improvement of the environment.
“If the government addresses these changes, surely the problem will be focused, which are not combustion engines but the resale of very old vehicles in the absence of incentives to scrap, and we can establish a realistic timetable that leads to the progressive implementation of the low emission cars, “added Perez.