EU automakers reject 2012 deadline for CO2 cuts

Comments | AFP, September, 2007

FRANKFURT (AFP) — European automakers demanded more time on Wednesday to meet mooted CO2 emissions targets but stressed they were on board and working hard to produce cleaner cars.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association agreed with a European Commission plan to cut CO2 emissions to 120 grams per kilometre, but by 2015 at the earliest, ACEA president Sergio Marchionne told reporters at the Frankfurt auto show.

Flanked by other European auto chiefs, Marchionne, who heads the Italian group Fiat, said the proposed deadline of 2012 was not "do-able."

He said that if EU legislation were to be adopted in 2009, "a minimum of six to seven years is appropriate before it could be enforced."

The EU commission expects to have a first draft of its new...