By Marcel Michelson
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - EU rules to cut CO2 emissions drew a range of views from industry figures at the Reuters Autos Summit, but all said it would be costly to a sector already hit by pricier raw materials, a strong euro and nervous consumers.
Maria Bissinger, director of corporate ratings at Standard & Poor's, said nearly all the companies she followed had a stable or positive outlook, but uncertainty on the CO2 issue was a long-term problem for the industry.
She noted data from the German VDA car industry association suggested the cost of cutting CO2 emissions to 120 grams per km by 2012, as demanded by the European Commission, would be about 3,000 euros per car. That's on top of 2,000 euros in extra costs since 2005 as a result of other EU regulations, from parts design deregulation, to air conditioning rules, initial CO2 limits and pedestrian protection.
VDA represents carmakers such as Mercedes (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Porsche (PSHG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Volkswagen (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unit Audi, which make relatively heavy cars with big engines and high emissions and are likely to find compliance costs higher than for makers of smaller cars such as France's PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) or Italy's Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
The ACEA European car industry organization says the 120 grams per km level should be seen as an average for the entire industry, not an average per carmaker, but the industry does not always speak with one voice.
The French CCFA association, which champions its nation's makers of relatively low emitting cars, recently said it was not in favor of special treatment for heavier cars.
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, chief executives of all the ACEA companies gave a joint news conference in which they asked the European Commission for realistic targets and more time, but again there are dissenters. Continued...
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