Average vehicle emission intensity of new cars bought in Australia has dropped for a ninth year in a row but fewer Australians are choosing low emissions cars, according to a report released by the National Transport Commission (NTC) in June.
The report shows that private buyers are doing better than fleets when selecting low emission vehicles. This is because private buyers averaged 176 g/km on new vehicles purchased in 2016 compared to 187 g/km for business and 201 g/km for government.
The report breaks down the performance of each buyer type to compare local versus state governments, not for profits, fleets and rental. The winner in this competition are taxi buyers with 155 g/km but its an increase from 143 g/km in 2015.
Chief executive of the NTC Paul Retter said there had been a 28 per cent reduction in average emissions intensity since 2002, with the average new car sold last year emitting a reported 182 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre travelled. This is a reduction of 1.1 per cent compared to 2015.
“Every year since 2002 the average emission intensity figures have fallen, however this year’s result is the equal smallest drop on record,” Mr Retter said.
“This is partly because of changing consumer preferences and buying patterns, with over 32,000 more SUVs and 15,000 more utes sold last year when compared to 2015.
Mr Retter said if all Australians who purchased a new car last year had bought the most efficient car available then the national average CO2 emission intensity figure would have dropped to 75 grams per kilometre travelled – a reduction of 59 per cent.
The NTC’s Carbon Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2016 report uses data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries to report on the carbon emissions intensity of passenger and light commercial vehicles sold in Australia. The NTC would like to thank the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries for the data used in this report.
