As Europe's giant carmakers do battle with environmentalists and lawmakers over emissions curbs, makers of classic European sports cars like the Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari F430 and Porsche 911 are struggling to be heard.
Environmentalists say today's supercars, with huge engines pumping out up to three times as much carbon dioxide as the average vehicle, have no place in a world struggling to rein in climate change. But Lamborghini and its rivals argue that theirs is a rare art that needs protecting, blending timeless European design elements with cutting-edge technologies that themselves can help save the planet. At the same time, sports cars usually only leave the garage at the weekend, contributing just 0.3% of European Union car emissions.
"As a high-luxury brand, we are representing Europe to the world,'' Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann says.
"We are a species to protect.''
Many European carmakers fear the EU's focus on emissions will make them uncompetitive around the world, leading to their eventual demise. As part of its drive to lead the world in battling climate change, the EU's executive has proposed cutting carbon dioxide emissions from new cars to an average of 120 grams per km by 2012, compared with a current EU average of around 160 grams.
But the EU has come up against the political muscle of big carmaking, with its wide range of marques from the tiniest Fiat to the most powerful Porsche.
Sports cars, which usually pump out anywhere between 200g and 500g of CO2 a kilometre, will be handled differently to avoid damaging their ability to compete in international markets.
read more....
We want a strong outcome for the environment ... but we don't want the rules to disproportionately disadvantage small-volume and niche manufacturers, many of which are in the UK,'' a British diplomat in Brussels said.
Niche manufacturers making fewer than 10,000 vehicles a year will be able to negotiate individual targets with the EU executive. But the situation is different for prestige marques such as Ferrari, Bentley, and Lamborghini that are divisions of larger car groups, and as such cannot argue their own targets.
"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,'' Mr Winkelmann said.
"But you have to understand, it will never meet the 120g or 130g per kilometre.''
Sports-car makers are already cutting weight to improve acceleration and reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Britain's Lotus has managed to get carbon dioxide emissions down to 196g per kilometre in its Elise S, using a glass-composite body and aluminium chassis.
Cars powered by hydrogen or fuel cells remain in the realm of fantasy, and the next big technological step looks set to be electric-powered cars. Although electric sports cars like the US-based Tesla are available, customers might be slow to embrace the technology.
Peter Everingham (62) says fellow Ferrari drivers might accept an electric Ferrari one day, as long as it featured the same perfectionist design qualities they are used to.
"At the same time, you're buying into the history, the Formula One team; all that is part of the passion,'' added Mr Everingham, who drives a 20-year-old Ferrari 328 and is secretary of Britain's Ferrari owners' club.
While working to reduce emissions as much as possible, sports-car makers still need to cut a deal with EU politicians.
The European's Commission's exemption for niche manufacturers would cover Aston Martin, which hopes to sell 7500 cars this year, 60% of them in the EU. It could also cover smaller marques like Britain's Lotus and Morgan, which still uses wood in its cars.
But it would not help Ferrari or Maserati. The two marques sell fewer than 5000 high-powered cars a year in the EU, but they would be excluded on the grounds they are part of the larger Fiat group with western European sales of about 1.2 million.
``Fiat does not agree with the current proposal, which would discriminate against Ferrari and Maserati,'' Fiat Group spokesman Gualberto Ranieri said.
The European Commission argues Fiat could spread the burden of the sports-car emissions across the group - a situation Fiat says would add about 1g per kilometre to every car.
Mr Everingham says that just as the world is changing to focus more on the environment, so sports-car drivers are also changing the way they use their cars, driving more on race tracks and less on crowded highways.
Resorts are cropping up in the United States and Spain where enthusiasts can keep their cars, visiting at the weekend to use them.
"They'll thrash them round the track for a couple of days, send them to the repairers, and then they'll head home,'' he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment