EU CO2 rules sound city cars’ death knell
STRICTER EU EMISSIONS laws will kill off city cars such as the Volkswagen Up because there won’t be a viable business case for them, according to VW sales and marketing boss Jürgen Stackmann.
The EU is planning a 37.5% cut on 2021’s proposed CO2 emissions by 2030. By next year car makers must have fleet average CO2 emissions of 95g/km, which is already exceeded by all petrol-powered Ups tested to the new, tougher WLTP emissions standards.
VW will therefore have to sell the Up, which already has very slim margins, above the stricter CO2 limits, which means more EVS will have to be sold under the limits in order to compensate and keep the overall average CO2 figure down. Given that margins will be even slimmer on MEB platform-based first-gen EVS, the business case for city cars is in effect nullified.
“If Europe is pursuing this legal target, there is no single business case for cars the size of the Up,” Stackmann said at Geneva. “They are too small for the new technology and the engine can’t meet the CO2 targets. You’d need to sell an EV [like an ID] just to be able to sell a city car.
“The life of small cars with conventional engines is hard. It’s a problem. I don’t think the politicians have picked this up yet. What do you buy in future if you cannot afford a new car?”
Stackmann said he still saw a “very strong life for the foreseeable future” for the Up, likely over the next three to four years, as well as a significant upgrade to the all-electric e-up. VW will endeavour to make the e-up more affordable but it won’t be as cheap as today’s entry-level city cars due to the cost of fitting electric technology to small models.