PSA ‘on track’ to meet CO2 emissions target

4 March 2020

So far this year, PSA Group has met its CO2 emissions target as set by EU regulators. How has the French manufacturing group achieved this? With bolstered sales of diesel cars and electrified vehicles, according to their CEO Carlos Tavares.

′We said that being compliant on CO2 in Europe is a must for PSA and we have been delivering this on a monthly basis. We achieved this in January and in February,' Tavares said in a web call yesterday (3 March). This online conference came as a platform to address the media in the wake of the cancelled Geneva motor show.

LEV sales

PSA has been able to keep to its 2020 CO2 target of 93g/km thanks to the sales of low emission vehicles (LEVs) Tavares confirmed. The EU definition of LEVs includes battery-powered and plug-in vehicles, which currently makes up roughly 6% of PSA's Europe sales. Two years ago, Tavares predicted PSA would need its LEV sales to reach 7% to meet the EU mandated target.

 ′A 7% rate was needed in a worst-case scenario of the diesel share in Europe collapsing to 10%,' he said at the time ′Our diesel sales have stabilised at about 30% and so we are compliant with sales of LEVs of about 6%.

Big fines

Last month, Neil King, Autovista Group's senior data journalist, broke down the fines facing carmakers. Even with the most-polluting 5% of new cars registered in 2020 excluded from 2021 fine calculations, this would only lower manufacturers' CO2 emission figures by about7%.

EU carmakers could face over €20 billion in penalties in 2021 and 2022, which means manufacturers are pushing ahead with their electric-vehicle plans to meet, or come as close as possible to, their respective emissions targets. Among them, PSA has to reduce its fleet CO2 emissions to 91.6g/km by 2021.

Back at the beginning of 2018, PSA announced plans to produce electrified vehicles as the market adapted to future mobility trends. Tavares unveiled plans to bring electrified options to its full-car and light-truck line-up by 2025. In total, 40 electric or hybrid models look to be on offer across its five brands. The group currently offers four battery-powered vehicles, like electric versions of the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa, alongside six plug-in hybrids.

Other manufacturers have taken more tactile routes to lower their fleet emission figures. Fiat Chrysler Autombiles (FCA) would need to lower their emissions by 24% or 29g/km, ompared to 2017 levels, which explains why they are paying Tesla to pool their emissions numbers in Europe. With the merger between PSA and FCA, this reduction in emissions must come as a relief to PSA .