Pollution Lineup: An Environmental Ranking of Automakers

Candace Morey, Roland Hwang, Jim Kliesch, John DeCicco

The research reported for this report was conducted by The Union of Concerned Scientists and the ACEEE

March, 2000  

Determining which automakers truly qualify as environmental leaders requires an objective comparison of the pollution performance of their products. This study compares automakers’ new passenger vehicles on the basis of their smog-forming and global warming emissions. We evaluated vehicles sold in 1998 (the most recent year for which complete data are available) using information from the Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, and the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration. Our study also indicates the most important steps automakers and policymakers can take to reduce the environmental impacts of new automobiles.

Key Results

This study demonstrates that pollution from automakers’ new vehicles varies significantly (see figure ES-1). Causes of these differences are outlined below.

Light Trucks Damage the Big 3's Rankings

The "Big 3" (DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors) account for 85 percent of light truck sales in the United States, which puts them into our "worst polluters" category. Although recently adopted regulations will require light trucks to meet the same tailpipe standards as cars, nearly a decade will pass before they are completely phased in. In addition, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards allow light trucks to consume one-third more gasoline than cars. Fuel economy is directly related to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), the primary global warming gas, and fuel-inefficient trucks emit more CO₂ than cars. Technologies can make light trucks as clean and fuel-efficient as cars today, but unless the Big 3 build them into vehicles soon, they will continue to lag behind the average pollution performance of the industry (see table).

Figure ES-1

Automaker Pollution Rankings for Average New Vehicle Smog-Forming and Global Warming Emissions

a. Automakers with annual sales greater than 100,000 vehicles b. Daimler Chrysler includes Chrysler and Mercedes vehicles. c. Ford includes Mazda and Volvo.

Average Smog-Forming and Global Warming Emissions by Automaker (grams per mile)(a)

a. This table provides detailed results from our study on the relative pollution from automakers’ cars andtrucks, for both smog-forming and global warming emissions. b. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (HC) are the two major smog-forming pollutants from motor vehicles. c. Calculated based on fuel economy values (see appendix). Fuel economy is directly related to emissions of carbon dioxide—vehicles that use more gasoline emit more global warming gases. d. Indicates the automaker does not sell this type of vehicle. e. DaimlerChrysler includes Chrysler and Mercedes vehicles. Ford includes Mazda and Volvo.

Sales of Fuel-Efficient, Low-Emissions Vehicles Secure Honda’s Ranking.
Honda’s vehicles achieve the lowest emissions of both smog-forming and global warming gases. Honda was the first automaker to sell a significant portion of its vehicles as low-emission vehicles (LEVs) -- a standard that is 57 percent more stringent than the current national requirement. Honda also leads the nation in fuel efficiency, with cars averaging the industry best at 31.8 miles per gallon. Finally, Honda benefits from selling a relatively small fraction of light trucks (10 percent of its sales), and those trucks are among the cleanest and most fuel-efficient in the industry.

The Auto Industry Is Backsliding on Global Warming.
Historic fuel-economy data reveals a disturbing trend -- every automaker’s average new vehicles emit more global warming gases today than ten years ago, with the exception of BMW.1 In 1999, US fuel economy overall dropped to its lowest value in 20 years. Two decades of fuel-saving technologies that could have helped curb CO2 emissions have instead gone into increasing vehicle weight and performance.

The Big 3 Account for Most Global-Warming Emissions from New Vehicles.

The Big 3 sell the dirtiest vehicles and capture the vast majority of US passenger vehicle sales, making them the worst polluters by any measure. Together, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors’ vehicles are the source of 76 percent of the CO₂ emitted by vehicles sold in 1998. Immediate action by these automakers to raise the fuel economy of their light trucks would significantly reduce global warming emissions from new automobiles.

Key Recommendations

What Automakers Can Do.

"Green" competition will never fully replace the need for public policies, but it can help accelerate the introduction of cleaner technologies. Automakers wishing to distinguish themselves as environmental leaders must make their light trucks meet the same emissions and fuel economy standards as cars within the next five years or sooner. If Ford had taken these steps, it would have been the second-cleanest automaker in our rankings.

Environmentally concerned automakers must lower the total pollution from their new vehicles each year. Introducing cleaner gasoline vehicles ahead of mandates will help. Cooperating with policymakers to develop stronger fuel economy standards is essential. Finally, automakers must begin selling advanced technology vehicles, which hold the promise to eliminate automobiles from the pollution picture.

Policymakers Must Act Now.

Regulators have taken steps to slowly close tailpipe pollution loopholes for light trucks, but they continue to disregard fuel-saving technologies for trucks by retaining the CAFE loophole. Holding light trucks to the same fuel economy standards as cars is the most effective step we can take to cut global warming emissions. The CAFE loophole alone allowed an extra 237 million tons of CO₂ to enter our atmosphere last year.