Revealed: The major car manufacturers facing CO2 fines

SUPER-economical diesel engine is being fitted to Vauxhall’s latest breed of SUVs courtesy of new owners PSA .

It is the French car group’s new 1.5-litre unit and which first appeared in Peugeot and Citroen models earlier in the year and is now making its way into Vauxhall’s Crossland and Grandland X.

With the two Vauxhall SUVs based on Peugeot platforms it’s an easy switch and the new engine replaces the 1.6-litre block used in earlier models.

Not only is the 1.5 engine more powerful – it develops 130bhp in the Grandland and 102bhp in the smaller Crossland – it also results in more usable performance.

We have just tried the Crossland X fitted with the new diesel and it does a splendid job of pulling the car and the fuel return is an eye opener.

Officially it is rated at 70.6mpg with a CO2 figure of 105g/km and our run saw figures not far from that, averaging a splendid 67.1 to the gallon.

Such economy was easy to achieve in everyday driving and all but the lightestfooted of drivers are likely to benefit.

Moreover, the new engine also feels more refined. It’s noticeably quieter and performance is also improved with the Crossland X 1.5 accelerating from 0 to 60 in 11 seconds. Top speed is 111mph.

This car was in high grade Elite Nav specification and as such cost from £21,710 – more than £2,000 above the

1.6 version – and with extras such as automatic parking, safety and winter packs and a special paint job the on the road price was £24,160.

The 1.5-litre diesel can be had in Crosslands from £19,405 and that makes the diesel £2,300 more expensive than the basic petrol model.

Standard kit at Elite Nav level includes an eight-inch touchscreen, sat nav and a forward facing camera system that provides traffic sign recognition and lane departure warnings.

The car was front wheel drive and fitted with stop/start to help economy and that worked well in traffic.

However, a grip control system is not available leaving Vauxhall’s other compact SUV, the Mokka X as its 4x4 offering. Nevertheless, pitched against the likes of the Renault Captur and

Nissan Juke that is not a real negative and the Crossland X is highly competitive given the price.

Boot space ranges from 410 to 1,255 litres and for a compact model it is nicely roomy inside with good amounts of space front and rear.

Like Vauxhall’s larger Grandland X, it is a good looking car and looks the part – all plus points for a model that is set to fare well in the current market where SUVs are all the craze. NEARLY two-thirds of top car manufacturers are facing ‘massive’ CO2 fines, according to new research.

A Press Association study has found that eight out of 13 of the major brands selling in Europe are on course to fail new emissions standards to be imposed from 2021, amid warnings they have been too slow to develop cleaner, alternatively-fuelled vehicles.

Manufacturers have a set target to hit by then, with the Europe-wide goal of an average of 95g/km of CO2. Firms face a 95 Euro (circa £85) fine for every gram of carbon-dioxide by which they exceed its personalised limits, multiplied by the number of cars produced by the manufacturer and registered in the EU in the previous year.

The research says Fiat-Chrysler, Groupe PSA, Hyundai, BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Mazda and Daimler are all at risk of failing to hit the target. The consultancy also claims that VW would be hit with the biggest fine of up to 1.4 billion Euros (circa £1.2bn), while Groupe PSA is at risk of a 600 million Euro (circa £535.2m) penalty.

New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) show a decline in the number of electrified vehicles sold in the UK this year, with year-to-date figures down by 6.9 per cent at the end of November compared with the same period in 2017.

An SMMT spokeswoman said: “We need policies that encourage rather than confuse, which means a consistent approach to incentives and tax, and greater investment in charging infrastructure.”