Jaguar Land Rover boss warns of rising CO2 emissions

Jaguar Land Rover group sales operations director Andy Goss has described the rise in average CO2 emissions that will result from falling diesel car sales as a “big, prominent issue” for the car industry.

Goss said that the absence of a credible market in plugin hybrid and electric alternatives made the rise in CO2 emissions a short-term inevitability as tax changes and badpressdiscouragedbuyers away from diesel and back to petrol.

Average CO2 emissions rose by 1g/km in the UK last year, representing the first increase since records began in 2002.

“The CO2 agenda has not gone away,” said Goss. “It’s not justaboutCO2orNOx–eachis an agenda. All manufacturers areinvestinginelectrification; it’s in all interests to navigate a glide path together.”

Goss said that the move away from diesel was not currently affecting any of JLR’s investment plans because its new range of four-cylinder diesel engines were part of the wider Ingenium family, with flexible production at the firm’s Wolverhampton engine plant. B

ut he felt that it did throw long-term uncertainty over the fuel’s future.

“Is there a way back for diesel? That’s impossible to answer, but fiscal policy is only going in one direction. That brings CO2 awareness – in a move to petrol, CO2 emissions go up. It’s a worry.”

Goss believes that JLR can still hit its EU-mandated target for average CO2 emissions of new cars sold in the EU (thought to be around 130g/ km), but he noted that the sudden switch away from diesel “provided an extra challenge to hit the target”.

UK diesel sales are set to suffer another downturn in April, when taxation hikes kick in for cars that don’t meet a certain certification standard.