Information paper Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2016 Information paper May 2017 Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2016 2 Executive Summary This information paper provides detailed data on the carbon dioxide emissions intensity performance of new passenger and light commercial vehicles sold in Australia during 2016. The data is broken down by vehicle make, model and segment and by fuel and buyer type. This report focuses on vehicle emissions performance, measured in terms of grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g/km). This is a measure of vehicle efficiency or intensity rather than a measure of actual vehicle emissions, which depends on many factors such as distance travelled, the nature of the driving and road and traffic conditions. Fleet-wide vehicle emissions depend on many factors including consumer preference (for example, vehicle type, engine size and power, fuel type and transmission type). Consumer preferences can also be influenced by government policies and regulations, industry influence and fuel prices. Key findings • In 2016 the national average carbon dioxide emissions intensity from new passenger and light commercial vehicles was 182 g/km. This is a 1.1 per cent reduction from 2015. • Consumer preferences are an important factor affecting the national average of carbon dioxide emissions intensity for new vehicles. If all Australians who purchased new vehicles in 2016 had purchased vehicles with best-in-class emissions, the national average carbon dioxide emissions intensity would have been reduced to 75 g/km, a 59 per cent reduction. • About 90 per cent of all new vehicle sales in 2016 were from 15 makes. Of these 15 makes, Audi had the lowest corporate average emissions intensity (144 g/km), and Holden had the highest (222 g/km). • The average emissions intensity for all Australian-made vehicles was 213 g/km in 2016. This is a 2.3 per cent increase when compared with 2015. • Private buyers purchased vehicles with the lowest average emissions intensity (176 g/km), followed by business buyers (187 g/km) and government buyers (201 g/km). • There were 51 ‘green’ car models available in Australia in 2016 (compared with 72 in 2015), which represented 2.5 per cent of total sales (compared with 4.7 per cent in 2015). A ‘green’ car is defined as a vehicle that does not exceed 120 g/km. • The average emission intensity for new passenger vehicles in European countries was 120 g/km in 2015. In the same year, Australia’s average emissions intensity for passenger vehicles was 175 g/km, 46 per cent higher. • There are many reasons why Australian light vehicle emissions intensity are higher than in Europe. Some of the reasons include: – Australian consumer preferences for heavier vehicles with larger and more powerful engines. For example, the five best-selling vehicles in the UK in 2016 were all small cars. In Australia, the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling model in 2016 with the Ford Ranger as the fourth best-selling vehicle (FCAI 2017a) – a lower proportion of diesel-powered engines – fewer government incentives for lower emissions vehicles – relatively lower fuel prices. Information paper 3 Contents Executive Summary 2 Key findings 2 List of figures 4 List of tables 5 Abbreviations 7 1 Introduction 8 2 Methodology 9 3 Australian emissions intensity 13 Vehicle manufacturers 13 Australian-made vehicles 15 Segment type 19 Buyer type 23 Fuel type 28 Green vehicles 30 4 Comparison of Australian and European data 32 Passenger vehicles: average emissions intensity by country 34 Passenger vehicles: average emissions intensity by make 35 Light commercial vehicles: average emissions intensity by country 37 Light commercial vehicles: average emissions intensity by make 38 References 40 Appendix 41 Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2016 4 List of figures Figure 1: Average emissions intensity for top 10 selling vehicles in Australia plus other selected models, 2016 12 Figure 2: National average emissions intensity for new passenger and light commercial vehicles, 2002–2016 13 Figure 3: Corporate average emissions intensity for the top 15 makes by volume, 2016 14 Figure 4: Change in corporate average emissions intensity between 2015 and 2016 for the top 15 makes by volume 14 Figure 5: Average emissions intensity for new Australian-made vehicles, 2016 15 Figure 6: Change in average emissions intensity for new Australian-made vehicles, 2015 and 2016 15 Figure 7: Range and average emissions intensity for new Australian-made vehicles, 2016 16 Figure 8: Average emissions intensity for new Australian-made vehicles by model, 2016 17 Figure 9: Change in average emissions intensity for new Australian-made vehicle models between 2015 and 2016 18 Figure 10: Average emissions intensity by segment, 2016 19 Figure 11: Change in average emissions intensity by segment between 2015 and 2016 20 Figure 12: Range and average emissions intensity by segment, 2016 21 Figure 13: Average emissions intensity by buyer type, 2016 23 Figure 14: Change in average emissions intensity by buyer type between 2015 and 2016 23 Figure 15: Average emissions intensity by detailed buyer type, 2016 24 Figure 16: Change in average emissions intensity between 2015 and 2016 by detailed buyer type 25 Figure 17: Average emissions intensity by detailed government buyer type, 2016 26 Figure 18: Change in average emissions intensity between 2015 and 2016 by detailed government buyer type 27 Figure 19: Average emissions intensity by fuel type, 2016 28 Figure 20: Change in average emissions intensity by fuel type between 2015 and 2016 28 Figure 21: Sales of electric vehicles in 2015 and 2016 29 Figure 22: ‘Green’ vehicles sales as a percentage of total new light vehicles sold, 2008–2016 30 Figure 23: ‘Green’ vehicle model availability, 2008–2016 31 Figure 24: Average emissions intensity for new passenger vehicles by country, 2015 34 Information paper 5 Figure 25: Corporate average emissions intensity for new passenger vehicles by make for Europe and Australia, 2015 35 Figure 26: Differences in corporate average emissions intensity for new passenger vehicles in Australia compared with Europe by make, 2015 36 Figure 27: Average emissions intensity for light commercial vehicles by country, 2015 37 Figure 28: Differences in average emissions intensity for new light commercial vehicles in Australia compared with Europe by make, 2015 38 Figure 29: Differences in average emissions intensity for new light commercial vehicles in Australia compared with Europe by make, 2015 39 List of tables Table 1. Motor vehicle classifications and definitions 10 Table 2. Fuel consumption and corresponding average emissions intensity 11 Table 3. Best-in-class vehicles for carbon dioxide emissions intensity for each segment, 2015 22 Table 4. European measures that have reduced carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles 33 Table 5: Average emissions intensity for new passenger and light commercial vehicles, 2015 and 2016 33 Table 6. National average emissions intensity for new passenger, sport utility and light commercial vehicles 2002-2016 41 Table 7. Corporate average emissions intensity and annual sales by make, 2015 and 2016 41 Table 8. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by Australian-made makes, 2015 and 2016 43 Table 9. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by Australian-made vehicle models, 2015 and 2016 43 Table 10. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by segment, 2015 and 2016 44 Table 11. Top selling models within segments, 2016 45 Table 12. Average emissions intensity for models with a sales volume greater than 1,000 vehicles, 2016 50 Table 13. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by buyer type, 2015 and 2016 54 Table 14. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by detailed buyer type, 2015 and 2016 54 Table 15. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by detailed government buyer type, 2015 and 2016 55 Table 16. Average emissions intensity and annual sales by fuel type, 2015 and 2016 55 Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2016 6 Table 17. ‘Green’ vehicle average emissions intensity and sales by segment, 2016 56 Table 18. Average emissions intensity and annual registrations for new passenger vehicles by country, 2014 and 2015 58 Table 19. Equivalent make for new passenger vehicles in Europe and Australia 59 Table 20. Corporate average emissions intensity for new passenger vehicles for Europe and Australia by make, 2015 59 Table 21. Average emissions intensity and annual registrations for new light commercial vehicles by country, 2014 and 2015 60 Table 22. Average emissions intensity for new light commercial vehicles for Australia and Europe by make, 2015 61 Table 23. Electric vehicle sales by model for 2011–2016 61 Table 24. Electric vehicle sales by state for 2011–2016 62 Table 25. Electric vehicle sales by buyer type for 2011–2016 62 Information paper 7 Abbreviations FCAI Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries g/km grams per kilometre GVM gross vehicle mass LPG liquefied petroleum gas NTC National Transport Commission SUV sports utility vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2016 8 Introduction 1 Each year since 2009, the National Transport Commission (NTC) has published an information paper about carbon dioxide emissions intensity for new Australian light vehicles. This information paper is the latest in this series and provides data for 2016. The paper focuses on vehicle emissions intensity and is a measure of vehicle efficiency. It is not a measurement of actual vehicle emissions, which depends on many ‘real world’ factors such as distance travelled, the nature of the driving and road and traffic conditions. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) collates carbon dioxide emissions intensity data from vehicle manufacturers. We use the FCAI data to prepare this information paper and we would like to thank the FCAI for making this data available for use in this report.